Global Voices

English

The world is talking, are you listening?

Sponge Bear speculates about what would have happened if Taiwan had remained a territory of Japan after the Second World War.

“M” writes about her experience of being sent to an immigration detention centre in Taiwan.

Fili writes about his experience studying in a Ph.D. program in Taiwan. While Range also writes about his experience as a graduate student in Taiwan.

Lao Ren Cha discusses problems with the pedagogy of teaching Mandarin in Taiwan. She wants to see a mutiny that will result in an overhaul in how Mandarin is taught.

An article in the Wall Street Journal by Amy Chua about the parenting practices of “Chinese mothers” provoked many strong reactions. Taiwan bloggers Taiwan-Born American and shu flies responded to the article by writing about their own experiences as Taiwanese-Americans.

Michael Turton writes about how the Taiwan Green Party accused the government of paying bloggers to write about a visit to petrochemical plants. Green Party member Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) says the practice is greenwashing [zh-tw] and accused the government and corporations of forming a “$5,000 Party” (五千黨) [zh-tw].

Media freedom has come into the spotlight in Taiwan recently. Michael Turton has a good summary of the issues. A Taipei Times reporter writes about how the proposed changes to the child welfare law would affect her work.

Taiwan in Cycles looks at an article from CommonWealth magazine and discusses how cycling and leisure activities are used to construct culture and promote an ideology of Chinese nationalism in Taiwan.

At The China Beat Paul Katz writes about the controversy that erupted over an online poll to find the most influential figures in the hundred years of the Republic of China (ROC). The poll included Chinese Communist Party leaders such as Deng Xiaoping and Mao Zedong. The case raises key questions about the debate over history in Taiwan as the 100th anniversary celebrations of the ROC are set to commence next year.

Taiwanese will vote in elections in five major cities on 27 November. Frozen Garlic observes two campaign rallies. The first for Eric Chu (朱立倫), the KMT candidate for Mayor of Xinbei City. The second for Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑), a DPP candidate for Taipei City Council.