Since the Chinese economic miracle, the Taiwanese film industry has been awash with Chinese money. Does beneath this lurk the specter of Chinese attempts to influence Taiwan through soft power?...
Nowadays most people would associate the word “Communism” with a twisted society plagued by poverty, totalitarianism, and a cult of personality. Why is this?...
The past victory of opposition forces over the KMT in the nine-in-one elections held last Saturday came as a surprise, with independent candidate Ko Wen-Je triumphing over KMT candidate Sean Lien in vying for the position of Taipei mayor...
On Saturday, September 27th, New Bloom’s Brian Hioe caught up with noted Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng at a solidarity action for Hong Kong in Times Square, New York City, organized by 全球聲援香港爭取真普選 United for Democracy: Global Solidarity with Hong Kong...
The debate about Chinese air power and its ramifications for Taiwanese national security continues, with the continued controversy over China’s “dangerous intercept” of US surveillance craft in late August continuing to unfold and an ensuing debate about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of Chinese responses to American surveillance in past weeks. While the issue of arms sales has taken center stage, as it often does, with the strong likelihood of US arms sales to Taiwan in the next year but without submarine or fighter plane sales to Taiwan and the canceling of planned upgrading of 146 Taiwanese F-16 fighter planes....
Does the possibility exist for Hong Kong to attain democracy? This question has yet to be settled. In the face of China’s refusal to allow non-vetted candidates to run for Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, the highest political position in the Hong Kong government, the stage is set for Occupy Central to once again seize control of Hong Kong’s Central district, the city’s financial and economic heart...
With conflict raging in Gaza, many of us concerned with Taiwan have grasped around the back of our minds for a connection and possible lesson. For while the situation on the ground share little resemblance, both contexts share one indisputable quality: both the Taiwanese and Palestinians lack an internationally recognized state...
Last week, a rare row arose between Taiwan and Japan over the Jadeite Cabbage. The artifact, originally crafted for one of the Qing emperor Guangxu’s notable concubines, is a prized possession and tourist favorite at the National Palace Museum in Taipei...
Less discussed in connection with Taiwan and Hong Kong is the recent Article 9 controversy in Japan against the repeal of Japan’s Article 9, which in the past few days has seen the largest mobilizations in Japan since the height of the post-Fukushima anti-nuclear movement two years ago...
Over the last thirty years, there’s been a slowly manifesting trend in regard to Taiwan’s international position, a series of processes that amount collectively to a single linear motion, and which offers no small indication of the future of Taiwanese democracy...