Taiwan’s political scene is once again being shaken by young people who have decided to take direct action against the government, this time over “minor” alterations to high school curriculum guidelines. As with the other youth movements that contested the authorities’ modus operandi in recent years, the participants have shattered the traditional norms of behavior …
After the disaster that was Hung Hsiu-chu, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) initial pick for presidential candidate, it was expected that Taiwan’s ruling party—a political survivor if ever there was one—would somehow get back on an even keel. With Eric Chu replacing the unpopular Hung in October, it wasn’t unreasonable to assume that the KMT would narrow …
In July 2013, the Miaoli County Government tore down the Chang pharmacy in Dapu Borough and seized the land for an urban renewal project. The controversial case, which went back several years, had sparked heated argument within society over due process and the role of the courts, an argument that continues to this day. What …
An occupation of the Taiwanese parliament is now in its second week as student protestors prepared Tuesday to meet President Ma Ying-jeou to demand he put the breaks on a trade agreement with China which they say would devastate Taiwanese workers and small businesses while threatening the island’s national identity. “This morning we received notice …