Since Taiwan’s democratization, much of the electorate has believed that Taiwan lags behind the other “Asian Tigers”—Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea—and electoral campaigns have often focused on restarting the “stalled” Taiwan Miracle. But has Taiwan really fallen behind?
In July, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) published its most recent defense white paper detailing its military goals in the coming years, using several new terms and rhetorical tools with greater intensity than previous ones, ahead of Taiwan’s 2020 presidential and legislative elections. The changes in the paper provide meaningful insight into the intention of China’s propaganda on Taiwan.
Thousands of protesters in five Taiwanese cities shrugged off the pouring rain to show solidarity with Hong Kong’s ongoing protests.
Same-sex marriage was legalized in Taiwan on May 24, 2019, but while same-sex couples were granted more rights as a result, full marriage equality was not achieved because various legal provisions still treat different-sex and same-sex couples disparately.
Over the last few years, Taiwan has been dubbed “most progressive in Asia,” but Taiwan is actually still a relatively conservative society. However, when it comes to immigration in Taiwan, especially the debate over how to receive immigrants from Hong Kong, we do not have the luxury to be conservative.
Michelle I-jou Wu (吳奕柔) is a third-year law student who gained prominence in the media as an activist when controversy erupted over the appointment of National Taiwan University’s president. In this interview, her role and experience as a student activist in Taiwan are discussed.