English

Latest

Wave Makers Depicts the Vibrancy, Drama of Taiwanese Elections

·May 6, 2023·4 min read

Wave Makers, currently available on Netflix, continues the trend of hit television series often drawing from Taiwan’s recent history in subject matter. Wave Makers, however, focuses on the grassroots-level political workers that work in contemporary campaigns. This is to be contrasted to Island Nation’s depiction of the Lee Teng-hui presidency, for example, but aligns the show closer alongside Days of the Sun II, which is set during the Sunflower Movement Read More

What’s in a Potato?

English Life

·May 2, 2023·2 min read

Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung was questioned last month over Taiwanese education textbooks that used 土豆, the PRC word for “potato”, to describe the vegetable instead of the more commonly used 馬鈴薯. By contrast, 土豆 refers to “peanut” in a Taiwanese context Read More

Bad Taiwan Takes: Danny Haiphong on US Troops in Taiwan, Chinese Troops in Puerto Rico

English Life

·April 29, 2023·3 min read

A recent tweet by tankie influencer Danny Haiphong reacted against news that the US currently has 200 military advisors in Taiwan. Haiphong suggested that China was justified in its outrage, while advocating that if the US is allowed to station troops in Taiwan, China should be allowed to station troops in Puerto Rico Read More

Bad Taiwan Takes: Yanis Varoufakis Advocates Monolingual Ethno-States, Does Not Understand the Word “Status Quo”

English

·April 26, 2023·4 min read

Comments by left-wing Greek economist and politician Yanis Varoufakis defending remarks by French president Emmanuel Macron prove a noteworthy demonstration of lack of knowledge of Taiwan. In this context, Macron was advocating the maintenance of the status quo over Taiwan and a peaceful resolution to the situation. Varoufakis seems to misunderstand something fundamental, however Read More

Lung Yingtai Op-Ed in the New York Times Disregards Voices of Taiwan’s Young

English Life

·April 19, 2023·5 min read

An op-ed in the New York Times today by the former Ma administration Minister of Culture Lung Yingtai proves typical in its delusion. After all, despite a history of criticizing the KMT’s authoritarian rule as a writer during the authoritarian period, Lung later saw fit to join an administration led by that same party–never mind the party’s refusal to make amends for the tens of thousands it killed during the White Terror and its contemporary aims to trade off Taiwan’s democratic freedoms to China, at the expense of the futures of its young people Read More

Navarro Podcast Proves a Bizarre Fever Dream About Taiwan’s Defense

English Life

·April 18, 2023·3 min read

A recent podcast by former Trump administration official Peter Navarro about Taiwan, entitled “How Taiwan Must Prepare for War, Imperial China Prepares Pearl Harbor 2.0”, proves a bizarre example of how MAGA Republicans imagine war scenarios between Taiwan and China. The podcast was released for Navarro’s regular podcast, “Taking Back Trump’s America" Read More

Cannabis Decriminalization Advocates Rally on Ketagalan Boulevard

English Events Life

·April 15, 2023·2 min read

Cannabis decriminalization advocates held a demonstration and fair on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building today. Organizers claimed 2,000 were in attendance. While the demonstration was to mark 420, the rally took place instead today because of the weekend. This is the fifth time such a demonstration has been held in Taiwan, with last year’s demonstration called off due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic Read More

Perhaps the Confusion is the Point: China’s Strategic Ambiguity in Drills

English Life

·April 13, 2023·3 min read

China continues to present mixed signals after the end of the three days of live-fire drills that it announced on Saturday Read More

Sounds from the Future and Politics in the Space Created Around Music: An Interview with Simon Reynolds

English Interviews Music

·April 8, 2023·29 min read

New Bloom's Brian Hioe and Florence Yi-Hsun Huang interviewed Simon Reynolds about his views on contemporary music and reflections on his seminal work on electronic music, Energy Flash, a quarter decade after its publication. Reynolds was visiting Taipei for a series of talks at C-LAB entitled "A Future Slowly Cancelled" Read More

“Bad Education” Proves A Capable Directorial Debut for Kai Ko

English Film

·April 3, 2023·3 min read

Actor Kai Ko's directorial debut, Bad Education, is a capable film with many merits. Though still entertainment fare at the end of the day, much is to be praised about the movie, which like many hit Taiwanese movies in past years has a script penned by novelist Giddens Ko Read More

“Day Off” Depicts the Relation Between a Mother and Her Children During a Time of Transition

English Film

·March 31, 2023·3 min read

Day Off, which has won accolades for lead actress Lu Hsiao-fen, proves a heartfelt depiction of the relationship between a mother and her children during a time of transition Read More

Baboon Escape Saga Ends with Shooting Death, Criticisms of Zoo for Pinning Blame for Shooting on Indigenous Hunter

English Life

·March 28, 2023·2 min read

The saga of a baboon spotted variously in the past few weeks in Pingjhen District in Taoyuan came to a dramatic end yesterday after the animal was tranquilized by authorities in the afternoon. Subsequently, however, the baboon was reported as having been discovered to have gunshot wounds Read More