Tsai Ing-Wen

Will Taiwan Be Able to Lower Its Voting Age From One of the World’s Highest?

Brian Hioe
Questions have been raised about whether an upcoming referendum to lower the voting age to 18 will pass. Concerns have been raised about whether the referendum will meet the referendum may not meet the 9.65 million votes necessary to pass constitutional changes. This means that young people can serve in the army, drink, and are able to vote in national referendums, seeing as changes to the Referendum Act in December 2017 lowered the age for voting in the referendum from 20 to 18, but they cannot vote for elected representatives in Taiwan currently...
EnglishPoliticsSeptember 20226 min read

Facebook Post by Entertainer About Child Deaths Leads to Controversy About COVID Disinformation

Brian Hioe
There has been a political firestorm after entertainer Antony Kuo made a viral Facebook post suggesting that there have been more deaths of children from COVID-19 than have been reported by the Central Epidemic Command Center. After the post, a number of suspected content farms posted claims about alleged child deaths due to COVID-19, raising questions about the circulation of misinformation and disinformation versus free speech in Taiwan. Unsurprisingly, the issue became contested between the pan-Blue and pan-Green camps...
EnglishJune 2022Politics7 min read

Permanent Residency Plan for Hongkongers Delayed Due to Backlash from Pan-Green Legislators

Brian Hioe
Backlash from pan-Green legislators has led the Mainland Affairs Council to suspend a plan to allow individuals from Hong Kong and Macau to obtain permanent residency in Taiwan after five years on a work permit. What the incident shows is the dynamics regarding perceptions of Hong Kong in Taiwan at present. Namely, as democratic freedoms continue to deteriorate in Hong Kong, it is increasingly possible that Taiwan simply comes to treat Hong Kong as part of China–and Hongkongers as Chinese. The issue continues to be contested over, with members of the pan-Green camp having not reached a consensus on the issue...
EnglishMay 2022Self-DeterminationSocial MovementsYouth Movements8 min read