pro unification Left

Autumn Struggle Labor Demonstration Calls for “Peaceful Reunification”, Features Cheng Li-wun

Brian Hioe
Autumn Struggle, historically one of Taiwan’s two major annual labor protests alongside May Day, took place late last month on November 30th. In recent years, however, Autumn Struggle has become known for its drift toward the KMT, as reflective of the influence of the pro-unification left within Taiwanese labor circles. This was again the case this year, with KMT chair Cheng Li-wun making an appearance at Autumn Struggle...
December 2025EnglishLaborPoliticsSocial Movements5 min read

The Pro-Unification Left, Anti-War Left, and the “Yaya in Taiwan” Case

Brian Hioe
A controversy has again broken out regarding the pro-unification left in Taiwan. In particular, this scandal revolves around the strong stance that pro-unification left groups have taken in defense of “Yaya in Taiwan”, the Chinese Douyin influencer who expressed support for the military unification of Taiwan and China. Defense for Yaya has largely been framed as defense of freedom of speech–and against the DPP’s curbs on freedoms of speech in the name of security...
April 2025Cross StraitEnglishInternationalPolitics15 min read

Qiao Collective Uses The History of Premodern Empires to Justify Contemporary Ones

Brian Hioe
Perhaps the most noteworthy thing about the Qiao Collective’s “Taiwan: An Anti-Imperialist Perspective”, published in the Monthly Review, is to what extent it focuses on premodern history–and to what extent the Taiwanese people are absent from a history purportedly about them. This should not surprise for Qiao, but one still finds one’s self somewhat surprised that the Monthly Review allowed for the publication of a perspective on history that is clearly more cultural nationalist than Marxist...
August 2024EnglishInternationalRegional Tensions11 min read

Pan-Blue Camp, Pro-Unification Left’s Nationalism is Self-Evident in Senkaku/Diaoyutai Island Naming Dispute

Brian Hioe
A proposal by the Ishigaki city government in Japan to rename the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyutai Islands, in order to reaffirm Japanese claims of sovereignty over the island, has been led to nationalistic responses in Taiwan among members of the KMT and members of the pan-Blue camp. This should not be particularly surprising...
EnglishInternationalJune 2020Regional Tensions6 min read

Reflexive Defense Of Avital Ronell By Left Academics Points To Similar Phenomenon In Taiwan

Brian Hioe
Controversy has broken out in western academia after feminist academic Avital Ronell was accused of sexual harassment, particularly after highly reflexive defenses of Ronell from fellow high-profile academics on the political Left in the form of an open letter, including Judith Butler and Slavoj Zizek. This bears a sharp parallel to incidents which have happened in leftist Taiwanese academia in the past two years and this may be worth reflecting on...
August 2018EnglishSelf-DeterminationSocial Movements7 min read

Ultra-Left Or Neoconservative? The Paradoxical Politics Of Coolloud

Brian Hioe
Coolloud has declared itself to be one of the most dedicated, independently funded leftist media in Taiwan. Traditionally, they have reported on social movements and protests that were seldom covered by the mainstream press. However, with the rise of independent media in the recent years, the political direction of Coolloud has increasingly become a position of opposition against the so-called “mainstream” social movements in Taiwan instead of right-wing forces or the state...
EnglishGender/SexualityNovember 2017Social Movements10 min read