Ko Wen-Je

National Controversy Breaks Out After 154 Illegally Smuggled Cats Euthanized in Kaohsiung

Brian Hioe
A national controversy has broken out, following the euthanizing of 154 cats that were being smuggled into Taiwan on a fishing vessel. The cats, which included breeds such as American shorthair, British shorthair, Persian, Ragdoll, and Russian blue, were worth over 10 million NT. The cats were found in 62 cages on the vessel, which had a crew of five...
August 2021EnglishEnvironmentalSocial Movements7 min read

Clashes Break Out Between Protesters, Police Last Week Over Review of Shezidao Development Plans

Brian Hioe
Clashes broke out between residents of Shezidao, also known as Shezi Island, and police last week on Wednesday. These clashes took place in context of the Taipei city government’s second stage review environmental impact assessment conducted on the prospect of development on the island. This led to not only fighting with the police, but clashes between residents of Shezidao in favor of development and those opposed to it. This may be one of the first times that fighting has broken out during a protest during the current COVID-19 outbreak that Taiwan is currently in the late stages of...
August 2021EnglishEnvironmentalSocial Movements5 min read

Pan-Blue Politicians Successively Accused of Skipping Vaccine Priority Order

Brian Hioe
A number of pan-Blue politicians have been implicated in the scandal regarding Taipei clinics violating vaccine priority order, to vaccine individuals accused of being allowed to skip the priority order because of their elite status. Among those vaccinated include former vice president Lien Chan, former legislator and Taipei mayoral candidate Ting Shou-chung, and former legislator Chang Hsien-yao, who was also a past secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation...
COVID UpdatesEnglishJune 2021Politics8 min read

78 Domestic Cases Reported, First Domestic Cases of Delta Variant Reported in Pingtung

Brian Hioe
78 domestic cases of COVID-19 and two imported cases were announced by the Central Epidemic Command Center at its daily press conference today. 13 deaths were also announced. The Delta variant of COVID-19 has entered Taiwan, with seven domestic cases in Pingtung due to individuals that returned to Taiwan from Peru, and spread COVID-19 to others despite being under home quarantine...
COVID UpdatesEnglishJune 2021Politics13 min read