The Debrief, 11/5/14
This week we review our curated stories of Taiwan’s economic controversies in the legislature, student activists visit Europe, and ongoing turmoil in one of Taiwan’s African allies, Burkina Faso.
Taiwan Student Activists Visits London and Brussels
Sunflower student activists Wei Yang (魏揚) and Wu Cheng (吳崢) visited London and Brussels with Taiwan Corner, a Danish organization, to raise awareness in Europe of the pressures and challenges facing Taiwan’s democracy.
Cross-Straits Oversight Law, Free Economic Zones on Legislative Agenda
According to the legislative agenda, The KMT will prioritize the controversial Cross-Straits Oversight Law, as well as the Free Economic Demonstration Zone legislations, at the upcoming session of Taiwan’s parliament.
The Search For Fair-skinned, Obedient, Virgin Wife
In both Taiwan and Korea, marriage of male nationals to female foreigners of Chinese, Vietnamese and Indonesian origin through matchmaking agencies has become prominent in marital unions…
The Debrief, 10/28/14
Stanford’s conference on Taiwan political polarization, Taiwan’s Gay Pride Parade, and Ukraine’s first national elections since former president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted and civil conflict broke out.
Pro-Europe Set to Win in Ukraine Elections
On Sunday, Ukrainians went to the polls to elect a new national parliament, the first time since former pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych fled the country after protesters clashed with the police in February of this year.
80,000 Attend Taiwan’s Gay Pride Parade
On Saturday, the 12th annual Gay Pride Parade was held in Taipei as around 80,000 from across the country and Asia participated in one of Asia’s biggest LGBT events.
KANO / 天下嘉農 (KP28)
The movie Kano is about the underdog baseball team from Chiayi Agricultural School becoming the first multicultural team from Taiwan to make it to the Japan national championships in 1931. How can it help us realize who we are?
政治兩極化：史丹佛學術會議，基進側翼
史丹佛民主發展與法治中心在 10/17~18 舉辦年會，主要探討台灣的兩極化政治。大部分與會者都同意台灣的未來還有許多問題仍待解決；「基進側翼」創辦人陳奕齊新一與競選總部辦公室主任顏銘緯對灣區台美人社團的演講。
塑造更好的台灣民主制度
台灣的民主制度還不到崩壞的地步，但離完美也還有一大段差距。良好的選制可以減緩政治人物的分化、增加選民對對代議士的信任、並減少民眾因對政府強烈不滿而走上街頭的衝突。
Polarized Politics in Taiwan: Stanford Conference and Flanc Radical
Stanford’s Taiwan Democracy Program held its annual conference on polarized politics after the Sunflower Movement in Taiwan; founder of Flanc Radical (基進側翼) Shinichi Chen spoke to Taiwanese American audience in Palo Alto.
Same-sex Marriage Laws in Taiwan Debated
On Thursday, Taiwan’s legislature held a public hearing on the issue of same-sex marriage and the adoption rights of same-sex couples; the U.S. announced that it will recognize same-sex marriages from seven new states.