Tsai administration

The Tsai Administration To Turn Over A New Leaf Though A Cabinet And Premier Reshuffle?

Brian Hioe
With Lin Chuan's resignation as premier and his replacement by William Lai, as well as an impending cabinet shuffle, changes would be afoot in the Tsai administration. As has been pointed out, very likely the Tsai administration has its eye on midterm approval ratings with its reshuffle, but the switch is probably also aimed at turning over a new leaf in the public eye...
EnglishPoliticsSeptember 20176 min read

Recent Comments By Stephen Yates Return To American Disrespect For Taiwanese Democracy

Brian Hioe
A recent letter in the Taipei Times by Tom Lee, head of the Friends of Tsai Overseas and president of the Taiwan Daily, reflecting on comments by Stephen Yates, a known “friend of Taiwan” and former US deputy national security advisor proves not only an interesting symptom of the blind spots in how many Taiwanese independence advocates conceive of US-Taiwan relations, but illustrates how many American "friends of Taiwan" fundamentally do not respect Taiwanese democracy, no matter what they might claim otherwise...
America and the Asia PacificAugust 2017EnglishInternational9 min read

Controversy Over Religious Practices Exposes Potential Future Faultlines

Garrett Dee
Controversy on the subject of the government’s supposed restrictions on religious practices and their impact on the environment has sparked protests in Taiwan with the start of Ghost Month, leading over ten thousand Taoist and Buddhist devotees to march in Taipei in opposition to what they saw as unreasonable government interference in their religious expression...
EnglishJuly 2017Politics6 min read

Forward-Looking Infrastructure Plan Passes: Public Outrage To Follow?

Brian Hioe
With the passage of the Forward-Looking Infrastructure Bill yesterday night after its third reading, Taiwanese youth activists have reacted angrily to the bill's, seeing as the DPP does not rule out forced land expropriation in the bill. Still others have has also raised concerns that the Forward-Looking Infrastructure Bill could lead to unaccountable spending and an extreme arrogation of power to the Executive Yuan. ...
EnglishJuly 2017Politics9 min read

Pension Reform Opponents Illustrate Reactionary Ideology With Their Actions

Brian Hioe
Strange scenes took place across Taiwan yesterday as part of a nationwide day of action against pension reform, mostly from pan-Blue military veterans. Most visible of these would be the attempt by several hundred opponents of pension reform to storm the Legislative Yuan, something which led to clashes with police and police injuries when they attempted to tear down the razor wire fence surrounding the Legislative Yuan...
EnglishJune 2017Politics9 min read