After close to a decade, the Supreme Court moved to clear Indigenous Bunun hunter Tama Talum of a conviction on firearms possession and hunting of a protected Formosan Serow earlier this month...
Now that the election results are in, the period of intense suspense and electoral speculation has concluded. The issue of cross-strait relations remains unresolved, as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) insists that the Republic of China (ROC), often known as Taiwan, is a separatist province of the mainland and aims for reunification. For the first time in history, Taiwan has re-elected the same political party to govern the democratic island for a third consecutive term. The election of Lai Ching-te on Saturday signifies a strong counter to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) forceful stance and intimidation tactics towards the island. The primary challenge now is how Lai’s new government will maintain its relations with Beijing and navigate the complex triangular dynamics of the US, China, and Taiwan...
The KMT continues to politicize the issue of vaccines in Taiwan, lashing out at the use of Medigen flu vaccines and framing this as the Tsai administration favoring the vaccine developer. This occurs even as Medigen is just one of a number of brands that will be used domestically...
Former president Ma Ying-jeou announced yesterday that he would not be attending National Day celebrations this year. Ma claimed this to be in protest of the Tsai administration’s deliberate efforts to remove symbolism of the Republic of China (ROC), instead referring to National Day commemorations as “Taiwan National Day,” and primarily using English phrasing...
KMT presidential candidate Hou You-yi recently traveled to the US. Taiwanese presidential candidates traditionally travel to the US ahead of elections. This is not only to meet with US government officials and conduct meetings, but to meet with wealthy members of the Taiwanese diaspora that live in the US, so as to solicit campaign funds. TPP presidential candidate Ko visited the US in April, while independent presidential candidate Terry Gou visited both in April and in late July. Ko has announced another trip for October. DPP presidential candidate William Lai visited the US in September...
The People's Liberation Army set new records yesterday with the number of planes it deployed into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense announced that 103 warplanes were detected around Taiwan in a 24-hour period yesterday. The ADIZ is the airspace in which planes normally identify themselves for security purposes. Aircraft also maneuvered in airspace southeast and southwest of the island...
A recent visit to Taiwan by Paraguayan president-elect Salvador Peña should serve as a reminder of Taiwan’s ties with regimes with questionable human rights records. Namely, even as Peña is feted as an ally of Taiwan, the Colorado Party that he served as the candidate of has ruled over Paraguay in an autocratic fashion for 75 years–if anything, the Colorado Party reminds of the KMT during its many decades of authoritarian rule in Taiwan...
Ahead of elections next year, the Tsai administration has announced a flurry of plans aimed at improving subsidies for education at the high school and college level. As such, it may not be surprising that the pan-Blue camp has criticized the Tsai administration for only announcing such plans to pander to voters...
The Central Election Commission stated in April that a referendum proposal by the Taiwan Lily Justice Association (TLJA) was unlikely to qualify to be put to the vote this year, as part of the national referendum process. The referendum proposal would be to expedite the time that executions take place, in requiring that executions take place within six months of sentencing...
