Alison Hsiao14 Feb 18

Recent amendments to the Referendum Act and the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act have taken Taiwan one step closer to achieving direct democracy. Alison Hsiao explains the changes made to the former and shows why some issues remain off-limit.   Direct democracy has made strides in Taiwan in the past year, with significant changes made by recent amendments to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) and the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法). By this process, both acts saw the thresholds lowered and technical barriers removed or lessened, which has garnered applause but also created new challenges. Referendum Act in […]

Olivia Yang31 Jan 18

Several countries have deported Taiwanese fraud suspects to China in recent years, a new trend that undermines Taiwan’s sovereignty and raises issues as to the ability of the suspects to receive a fair trial. Olivia Yang looks at this development.   Philippine authorities on Jan. 13 arrested 133 Taiwanese and Chinese suspects in a crackdown on telecom scams. While it remains to be seen where the suspects will be deported, over 500 Taiwanese nationals worldwide have been deported to China since 2014, nearly 300 of them last year alone. The deported Taiwanese have been suspected of working with telecom or […]

Alison Hsiao23 Jan 18

After months of confrontation, withdrawal in protest from the New Power Party and opposition from the Chinese Nationalist Party in the legislature, amendments to the Labor Standards Act — the second round since May 2016 — were passed by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party-led Legislative Yuan on Jan. 10. Alison Hsiao explains what the new laws entail. Reform agenda Amendments to the Labor Standards Act have been the object of heated debate since President Tsai Ing-wen assumed office in May 2016. During her election campaign, Tsai had proposed “six major labor policies” — reducing total working hours, reversing the trend […]

Olivia Yang11 Jan 18

Maria Chin Abdullah, head of the recipient of the 2017 Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award, shares her views on democracy and the role of civic groups with Taiwanese NGOs. Olivia Yang reports.   “We are trying to define democracy in Malaysia, to say that it is all right for you to speak up, it’s all right to not fear them. Because once we show fear, we back down, we compromise.” BERSIH 2.0 Chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah is speaking at a discussion with Taiwan NGOs in Taipei on Dec. 10, 2017. The Malaysia-based coalition had just been presented with the […]

Articles26 Dec 17

There has been much discussion about the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice since it was passed in early December. The Taiwan Association for Truth and Reconciliation has come up with a Q&A to respond to the myths and controversies concerning the newly passed law and to help put transitional justice in its proper Taiwanese context.   1. Why does the transitional justice concerned in the Act only target the Kuomintang (KMT)? This is none other than political vendetta! Transitional justice is to hold rulers and the state apparatus accountable for their violations of the basic rights of the people and […]

Articles11 Dec 17

Nearly a year since a draft bill was introduced in the Legislative Yuan, the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice was passed on Dec. 5, marking an important step in the country’s effort to shed light on and redress past injustices committed during the Martial Law period. Alison Hsiao looks at the Act and its implications.   At 21:09 on Dec. 5, Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan struck the gavel and announced the passage of the “Act on Promoting Transitional Justice” (促進轉型正義條例) on the legislative floor, signifying a new beginning for the country’s transitional justice. Different versions of the bill had been […]

Articles28 Nov 17

More than the unfair treatment of a man who did nothing wrong, today’s sentencing is another reminder that China has no intention of playing by international rules. It is also a warning that Beijing has cast a much wider net to silence critics and those, Chinese and not, who propose an alternative system of governance in China. J. Michael Cole looks at the significance of today’s ruling.   The Yueyang Intermediate People’s Court in Hunan Province today sentenced Taiwanese human rights activist Lee Ming-che to five years’ imprisonment for “subversion of state power” and suspended his political rights for two […]

Articles24 Nov 17

Developments over the past two decades are forcing experts to reassess traditional models of the spreading of democracy. With the democratic ‘center’ encountering various difficulties, the ‘peripheries’ may now have a greater role to play to prevent a further global backsliding in democratic practices. This, and other issues, were the subject of a recent lecture in Taipei involving Professor Laurence Whitehead and other experts. Olivia Yang reports.   “I think we should celebrate not only that it happened, but that it happened then.” Thus spoke Professor Laurence Whitehead of Oxford University on the lifting of Martial Law in Taiwan in […]