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Stylistically Innovative and Thematically Bold

·May 14, 2022·3 min read

Everything Everywhere All At Once is a triumph. The film can be categorized as “Asian American film,” but it is much more than that—Everything Everywhere All at Once is bold, innovative, and high-concept, while managing to engage with personal themes Read More

When Gangster Politics Collides with Political Realignment

English Life

·August 17, 2023·3 min read

Political streamer and Internet celebrity Holger Chen raised eyebrows earlier this week by accusing the DPP of being behind a shooting incident in August 2020 in which he was shot by a gunman Read More

The History of Queer Parties in Taiwan

English Interviews Music

·December 17, 2021·19 min read

Brian Hioe spoke to Levin Lo, or DJ Rainbowchild, a veteran of the queer party scene in Taiwan. Among other things, Rainbowchild was the DJ that played at the wedding banquet party that celebrated the legalization of gay marriage in Taiwan in May 2019, as the first place in Asia to legalize gay marriage. Rainbowchild currently DJs at Locker Room, CÉ LA VI Taipei, and other venues, having also DJed at the Werk parties, Fairy, and other venues Read More

Terry Gou Stokes 2024 Speculation, Claiming to Have Approval of Not Only Sea Goddess but War God

English Life

·March 3, 2023·3 min read

FoxConn founder Terry Gou is at it again. After having announced his 2020 presidential bid with the claim that Mazu, Taiwan’s patron sea goddess, came to him in a dream, Gou claimed earlier in the month that Mazu and war god Guanyu had expressed approval of another presidential run by him. Gou claimed this after visiting temples over the Lunar New Year to ask the gods about his potential run Read More

Taiwanese Celebrities Come Under Fire from Chinese Netizens for Congratulating Olympics Athletes

English Life

·August 3, 2021·4 min read

Singer-songwriter Jolin Tsai and television host Xiao S, whose real name is Dee Hsu, are among the Taiwanese celebrities to have come under fire after expressing support for Taiwanese athletes at the Olympics. This proves the latest sporting incident in which identity issues between Taiwan and China have been flagged, with scrutiny occurring over posts on platforms banned in China Read More

Queer Desire and Death

English Film

·April 8, 2021·3 min read

In the hands of a lesser director, Wrath of Desire would not be the sum of its parts. In fact, the film would be something of a train wreck. However, in Zero Chou’s capable hands, Wrath of Desire is not only a stylistically distinctive film, but one which is thought-provoking. The film is one of six about LGBTQ-related issues by Chou, which she plans to shoot in East Asian cities. Chou is one of Taiwan’s best-known contemporary queer film directors Read More

Bad Taiwan Takes: The KMT Attempts to Depict Itself as “Hawkish” on China

English Life

·October 24, 2023·4 min read

A recent article on the Brookings Institution titled “From dove to hawk: KMT’s transformation and the quest for new guardrails in cross-Strait relations”, by Dennis Lu Chung Weng, proves a strange exercise in the KMT’s attempts to depict itself in a positive light to the US. Seeing as the article appeared in the same timeframe as an article by former Sunflower Movement student leader Lin Fei-fan, this seems to be the Brookings Institution’s attempt to present the KMT’s viewpoint Read More

FTM Representation in Taiwan Takes One Step Forward and Two Steps Back with Chang Yi-ching’s “Be Myself”

English Film

·July 1, 2023·9 min read

Director Chang Yi-ching's (張伊青) new documentary, 《做自己的條件》Be Myself, made its world premiere last night at the 25th annual Taipei Film Festival. Be Myself documents video editor Hsin-yu’s (欣嶼) journey through gender affirming surgeries and changing his legal gender from female to male. Chang’s new full-length documentary, running at 138 minutes, is the first of its kind, providing viewers with a detailed portrayal of female-to-male (FTM) transition and achieving new heights in FTM transgender representation in Taiwan. However, Be Myself suffers from a severe lack of sensitivity and accountability on the part of the director, as well as a narrative arc that ultimately centers Hsin-yu’s family members rather than himself and inadvertently perpetuates subtle forms of transphobia Read More

National Day Logo Draws Criticisms, Mockery

English Life

·September 4, 2024·2 min read

The new logo for National Day was unveiled earlier this week. However, the logo proved a far cry from the modernist designs of the preceding years, in that the National Day logo took the form of a red and blue logo with a plum blossom in the middle. The plum blossom is the national flower of Taiwan Read More

A Portrait of Youth on the Precipice

English Film

·April 26, 2022·4 min read

Although there have been several short fiction films about the 2019 Hong Kong protests, such as “Night is Young” and “Lost Pearl,” May You Stay Forever Young (少年) is perhaps the first full-length fiction film to address this tumultuous time in recent Hong Kong history. Given increasing censorship in Hong Kong, as with protest documentary Revolution of Our Times, May You Stay Forever Young could only see nationwide theatrical release in Taiwan. The film was in the running for "Best New Director" and "Best Editing" at the 58th Golden Horse Awards. Though it won neither, it did win the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema award at the Golden Horse Film Festival in 2021 Read More

Bad Taiwan Takes: Vivek Ramaswamy on Strategic Clarity, Then Ambiguity for Taiwan

English Life

·September 12, 2023·3 min read

Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, one of a host of Republican contenders for the presidential nomination, recently raised eyebrows with comments to the media suggesting that the US abandon its policy of strategic ambiguity regarding what stance it would take in the event of an invasion of Taiwan. Ramaswamy instead suggested that the US should commit to an unambiguous stance on Taiwan, that of strategic clarity—at least until the US could ensure that it is not dependent on Taiwan for semiconductors Read More

Reconnecting Taiwan Post-COVID: A Conversation with Eden Hill Festival

English Music

·June 1, 2022·7 min read

Brian Hioe spoke to Rubben from Eden Hill about their festival, which was originally scheduled for April, but had to be rescheduled due to heavy rain. Eden Hill will take place in Hsinchu on the weekend of June 17th. The following article originally appeared on Electric Soul, a Hong Kong-based electronic music magazine and ticketing platform, on March 30th Read More