In a day full of upsets, perhaps the most unremarked upon event was the surprise triumph of the NPP in securing sixteen city council seats and the SDP in securing one city council seat. Two of these candidates, the NPP’s Lin Ying-meng and the SDP’s Miao Poya make history as Taiwan’s first openly lesbian city councilors...
Going into 2018 local elections tomorrow, it is a question as to what will become of Taiwan’s so-called “Third Force”. “Third Force” as a term refers to political parties which emerged after the 2014 Sunflower Movement, composed in large part out of young people, youth candidates, and activists turned politician, and which framed themselves as breaking from establishment politics both DPP and KMT...
On October 19th, New Bloom editor Brian Hioe interviewed Obasan Alliance candidate Wen Li-shu, who is running in the Sanchong-Luzhou area of New Taipei City. This is part of New Bloom's ongoing series of interviews with independent city councilor candidates, as part of its special 2018 election coverage...