Democratic Progressive Party

Lin Fei-fan Announces His Withdrawal from Elections

Brian Hioe
DPP legislative candidate Lin Fei-fan, best known as one of the student leaders of the 2014 Sunflower Movement, announced his withdrawal from the 2024 legislative elections yesterday in a surprise move. This was to take responsibility for the current wave of controversies faced by the DPP regarding issues of sexual harassment within the party, seeing as Lin was seen as responsible through overseeing the DPP’s Gender Equality Committee during his period as a deputy secretary-general of the party–even if he did not commit any acts of wrongdoing...
EnglishJune 2023Politics6 min read

DPP Announces Wave of Nominations, With an Emphasis on Former Sunflower Movement Activists

Brian Hioe
The DPP announced a slate of legislative candidates earlier this week, particularly with an aim on highlighting the young candidates it was fielding. This includes former Sunflower Movement student leader Lin Fei-fan, who later served as deputy secretary-general of the DPP as part of the Su Tseng-chang cabinet, as well as Taipei city councilor Wu Pei-yi, another former Sunflower Movement activist...
EnglishJune 2023Politics6 min read

Recent Events Highlight Taiwan’s Ties with Latin American Countries with Questionable Human Rights Records

Brian Hioe
Taiwan's ties with Latin American countries with questionable human rights records has been highlighted by a number of recent events. First, Taiwan recently saw a state visit from Guatemalan president Alejandro Giammattei in late April. Giammattei traveled to Taiwan from April 24th to April 27th, attending a state banquet held in his honor by Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen. Likewise, earlier this month, in Paraguay Santiago Peña of the Colorado Party won election earlier this month. This put an end to speculation that Paraguay would break ties with Taiwan after the election...
EnglishMay 2023Politics6 min read

Ahead of Elections, Pan-Blue Candidates Walk Back Pro-China Stances

Brian Hioe
Ahead of elections, one notes that pan-Blue politicians are suddenly changing their tunes on cross-strait relations. This is particularly true with regard to how they articulate Taiwan’s relationship with the US. Such moves take place, however, at a time in which the pan-Blue camp’s cross-strait policy has been overshadowed by former president Ma Ying-jeou’s historic trip to China, as the first former Taiwanese leader to visit China in 70 years, in a similar timeframe to stopovers in the US by current president Tsai Ing-wen in which she met with US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy...
April 2023EnglishPolitics8 min read

What Will Domestic and International Reactions to Chinese Drills After the Tsai-McCarthy Meeting Be?

Brian Hioe
China has once again begun carrying out military exercises in response to a meeting between a Taiwanese president and a US Speaker of the House. In this case, on Saturday, China announced three days of military exercises following the meeting that took place between US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy and Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday in California...
April 2023EnglishInternationalRegional Tensions9 min read