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David on Formosa

@davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy
160 followers 4 following 768 posts

Focus on Taiwan politics, with occasional posts on Thailand and China. Standing up for human rights and democracy everywhere. 🌉 bridged from ⁂ mstdn.social/@davidonformosa, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 1h
A report about the weekend rally for Puma Shen (沈伯洋), the DPP's candidate for mayor of Taipei City. The crowd was in excess of 100,000 people laorencha.substack.com/p/i-went-to-… #Taiwan #Taipei #TaiwanElection #DPP […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 12h
Police raided a gay bar in Taipei on Saturday. LGBT rights groups protested in response "It is unacceptable for something like this to happen in 2026 in Taiwan, especially considering that Taiwan proclaims itself East Asia’s most progressive country" […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026
Tibetan organisations from around the world have issued a statement affirming their commitment to opposing the CCP's occupation and propaganda "For us, a coalition of more than 145 Tibet organisations from around the world, today is a day to stand together in our opposition to the CCP, its […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026
Some reasons for the rise of Puma Shen (沈伯洋) whose "ocean current" (洋流) has put him in the running for mayor of Taipei City "Throughout the past decades of local elections, I have not seen anyone seriously discuss a long-term vision for urban planning, let alone with the kind of clarity and […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026
Frozen Garlic analyses the electoral contest for Taipei City mayor. The race is between a KMT princeling and a DPP outsider. Although Taipei City is the KMT's bastion, support for the DPP's candidate Puma Shen is surging "Seemingly from nowhere, the DPP found itself with a fresh, charismatic […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2026
Frozen Garlic covers the campaign launches of the DPP and KMT candidates for mayor of New Taipei City The KMT's Hammer Lee (李四川), former deputy mayor of Taipei City, is running against DPP Legislator Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) New Taipei City is a barometer in Taiwan's local elections. Whichever party […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2026
Freddy Lim explains Taiwan's history in two minutes (English language) www.threads.com/share/BAWAq0b1m1 #Taiwan #history #TaiwanIsaCountry #台灣
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Freddy Lim 林昶佐 (@freddylimtt) on Threads
Taiwan’s History in 2 Minutes! Invitations from official, academic, business, and media circles keep coming! Sometimes I need to challenge myself to sum up Taiwan’s history in just two minutes. That leaves us more time to discuss other issues and exchange ideas!
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2026
A good report about a night market rally for the DPP's candidate for Taipei mayor, Puma Shen (沈伯洋). There seems to be a surge in support for Shen, labelled as "the ocean current" (洋流) The DPP has only won the mayoral race once in Taiwan's democratic history. In […] [Original post on mstdn.social]
Photo of Puma Shen campaigning at a night market in Taipei
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026
Hong Kong's Security Bureau has reacted angrily after a 2017 documentary "Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower" became the most viewed film on Netflix in Hong Kong Joshua Wong has spent six years in prison and currently faces a possible life sentence under Hong Kong's draconian national security law […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2026
Reporters Without Borders has released a new report about the Chinese party-state's global propaganda efforts "The report details the many tactics used by Beijing, such as funding foreign outlets, media cooperation agreements and even harassing and threatening news professionals, to gain […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2026
The space for feminist activism in China, both online and in real life, has contacted significantly since the MeToo movement "In China feminism has become an increasingly private affair. Activists speak of a generational rupture. A movement once inspired by the global hashtag campaign against […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2026
Human rights groups have released an open letter to Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping ahead of his state visit to Washington, DC. The letter calls on Xi to take action to improve human rights in China "We urge that ahead of your arrival you agree to release prisoners of […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2026
Parliamentarians and human rights leaders in the UK have written an open letter calling on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to speak up for Joshua Wong and support Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement www.fortifyrights.org/eas-inv-let-2… #HongKong #HumanRights #ukpol #FreeJoshuaWong
fortifyrights.org
Open Letter to the Prime Minister - Fortify Rights
We are asking you to apply that principle to Hong Kong and the Joint Declaration, and hold China to account for its abusive use of the National Security Law, criminalising peaceful democratic activity.
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2026
A new report by the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders says that the Chinese government continues to carry out torture against prisoners of conscience with near-total impunity The report finds that authorities persist in their use of torture, typically […] [Original post on mstdn.social]
Cover of the report on Systemic Failures to End Torture in the PRC
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2026
The Chinese government's use of exit bans (限制出境) has increased dramatically in the past decade, according to research by Safeguard Defenders "For 2016 there are only 89 records in the entire Supreme Court database that mentioned exit bans. For 2018 this rose to 6,603. Last year (2025), it was […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/09/2026
Protest action at Sydney Town Hall today organised by NSW Hong Kong Friends. The action was to support political prisoners in Hong Kong including Joshua Wong and the members of the Hong Kong Alliance recently sentenced for organising the Tiananmen commemoration […] [Original post on mstdn.social]
Protest in support of Hong Kong political prisoners at Sydney Town Hall Protest in support of Hong Kong political prisoners at Sydney Town Hall Posters of Joshua Wong and Chow Hang Tung, political prisoners in Hong Kong Protest in support of Hong Kong political prisoners at Sydney Town Hall
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/09/2026
Qixing Mountain three-way (七星山三進三出)- a triple ascent of Taipei City's highest peak. Apparently there is a trend amongst hikers to complete the three trails to the summit in one day taiwantrailsandtales.com/2026/09/12… #Taiwan #Taipei […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/09/2026
Taiwan's vice president, Hsiao Bi-khim, has arrived in Italy to attend the Second Ventotene European Conference for Freedom and Democracy It is the second time Hsiao has visited Europe since she became the vice president. In November 2025, she attended a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/09/2026
RE: mastodon.online/@newbloommag/117245… "“WILL TAIWAN JUST GIVE UP?” by Simon Shuster in The Atlantic is the latest article in the heady genre of articles by white men who visit Taiwan for a few days, speak only to elite political actors, and decide that they have arrived at […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/09/2026
Frozen Garlic analyses how the levels of support for the Taiwan People's Party (TPP; 台灣民眾黨) have changed over time. Overall, its support seems to be declining with its closeness to the KMT and corruption scandals likely to be the main reasons […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/09/2026
New report from Safeguard Defenders looks at CGTN, the Chinese party-state's global TV channel. Based on interviews with former CGTN employees, it examines how the channel operates under a system of censorship and propaganda […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2026
More reporting from Safeguard Defenders on the Chinese party-state's use of extra-judicial detention "China’s RSDL system of secret jails, where people are kept in solitary confinement, incommunicado, at secret locations, with no functioning right to appeal, freedom to move, or, often, seeing […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2026
Review of the book Green Party Taiwan: The First Thirty Years (綠黨在台灣:第一個三十年) "...the book shows the dynamics of third-party politics in Taiwan among a progressive third party, as well as how the Green Party has sought to carve out a place for itself amidst the many political changes–inclusive […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/09/2026
Taiwan's demographic crisis will fundamentally reshape politics and society, writes Michael Turton "What kind of politics can we expect from a land of labor shortages, a rising proportion of elderly and a restive population of young professionals, all of whom can see that within a decade or two […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/09/2026
Netflix has created new opportunities for Taiwanese television production. It has also created a new challenge for Taiwanese producers to find their place in a global market "Streaming has solved an old problem of distribution in an extraordinary way. Yet it has created another problem […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/09/2026
Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner Joshua Wong has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to collude with foreign forces The charge carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. It will add many years to the prison term that Wong is currently serving […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/09/2026
Melissa Chan and Badiucao's graphic novel You Must Take Part in Revolution carries the message that all forms of authoritarianism are bad “This book happens to focus on China, but authoritarianism everywhere is bad,” Chan says. “We don’t want anyone to engage in whataboutism and I don’t think […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 31/08/2026
Hong Kong independent bookstore Have a Nice Stay closed permanently on Sunday The shop was raided by national security police last month. The closure occurred as part of an ongoing crackdown under Hong Kong's national security law which has targeted independent booksellers […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 31/08/2026
Taiwan's president Lai Ching-te welcomed members of the Tao people to the presidential office. He recognised their recent efforts to sail a traditional boat from Pongso no Tao (Orchid Island) to Batan Island in the Philippines. The recent voyage was the first […] [Original post on mstdn.social]
Members of the Tao people throw their boat in the air during the reception at the presidential office in Taipei. This is a traditional practice before launching a boat. Taiwan's president receiving members of the Tao people at the presidential office in Taipei
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/08/2026
The Chinese party-state is strictly censoring news about the flood disaster in Tibet "On one side of the river, Nepal has since recovered 489 bodies and lists 2,381 people unaccounted for. On the other side, China has reported three dead. The state couldn’t control the flood but it immediately […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/08/2026
Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan (張展) has suffered years of repression by the Chinese party-state "Two years after Zhang Zhan’s re-arrest, the Chinese regime is doing everything in its power to suppress information about the current health and situation of this icon of Chinese journalism, who […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/08/2026
The Tibetan region where the glacial collapse/flood disaster occurred is administered by China as a militarised frontier. This creates problems with information sharing, issuing warnings and responding to disasters "When a disaster in the Nepal-Tibet border region demands that rescuers cross […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/08/2026
Taiwan's Central Election Commission (CEC) has rejected proposals for two of three referendums to be held alongside local elections on 28 November The CEC rejected referendums on caning as a criminal punishment and using traffic fines to improve road safety The CEC accepted the referendum on […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/08/2026
HRW called for a stronger response from the international community to the Chinese party-state’s severe repression of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims "Current evidence shows continued mass arbitrary detention, unjust imprisonment, mass surveillance, cultural and religious erasure, restrictions […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/08/2026
Interview with Taiwanese singer-songwriter Enno Cheng (鄭宜農) about her collaboration with Korean folk singer Lang Lee taiwanbeats.taicca.tw/en/news/ennoc… #Taiwan #TWmusic #Taiwanderful #music #台灣
taiwanbeats.taicca.tw
Enno Cheng on Cross-Border Music Collaboration: The Greatest Challenge Is Not the Language Barrier, But the Story You Want to Tell|Taiwan Beats
Explore in-depth information in Enno Cheng on Cross-Border Music Collaboration: The Greatest Challenge Is Not the Language Barrier, But the Story You Want to Tell.
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/08/2026
Mobile network slowdown drills conducted during Taiwan's Urban Resilience Exercise may have been the first of their type ever conducted internationally. The exercise differed significantly from drills conducted in South Korea and Japan "By simulating an extreme situation in which bandwidth […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/08/2026
China's campaign of international diplomatic pressure against Taiwan is now targetting Taiwanese representative offices This will have significant impacts in the South Pacific where Taiwan relies on offices in PNG and Fiji to maintain relations with the eight Pacific island countries that do […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/08/2026
The KMT's efforts to slash the budget of Taiwan's international English-language broadcaster is politically motivated and short-sighted "If TaiwanPlus is starved of funding and forced to shrink or disappear, Taiwan will lose its principal independent vehicle for telling its own story to the […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/08/2026
🎸 Chthonic have collaborated with Finnish musician Mariska on a new single titled "Näin Määrättiin" www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzCZUmpUchA… #Taiwan #Finland #TWmusic #Taiwanderful #music #metal
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/08/2026
You Must Take Part in Revolution at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney Badiucao and Melissa Chan discussed their graphic novel, art and techno-authoritarianism #Sydney #FODI #GraphicNovel #art #activism
Badiucao and Melissa Chan with Dan Ilic at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in SydneySigned copy of the graphic novel You Must Take Part in Revolution Badiucao and Melissa Chan - You Must Take Part in Revolution at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas Entrance to Carriageworks for the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/08/2026
The Chinese government is placing heavy restrictions on Uyghur Australians visiting their homeland This includes surveillance and monitoring while in the Uyghur Region and in some cases being interrogated about activities of the Uyghur community in Australia, according to research by Human […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/08/2026
Taiwan’s Public Television Service (PTS) is vital for building creative capacity. A process that has taken decades in parallel with Taiwan's democratisation. Its value risks being undone by budget cuts and freezes, writes Ming-yeh T. Rawnsley […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 14/08/2026
The KMT voted to pass a bill for a referendum on the use of corporal punishment (caning) to be held alongside Taiwan's local elections in November The referendum is very unlikely to pass but plenty will be written in the international media about this over the next few months. It will […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/08/2026
The August–October 2026 issue of Mekong Review is out now. Cover art by Badiucao mekongreview.com #magazine #Asia #art
Cover of Mekong Review August-October 2026 edition. The cover art by Badiucao took inspiration from The Raft of Medusa by the French Romantic painter Théodore Géricault
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/08/2026
2026 ANU Taiwan Update 8-9 September "Four scholars on chips, energy, polarisation and identity, plus a restored screening of Hou Hsiao-hsien's The Sandwich Man." ciw.anu.edu.au/event/2026-anu-taiwa… #Taiwan #TaiwanStudies #ANU #Canberra #台灣
ciw.anu.edu.au
2026 ANU Taiwan Update | AUSTRALIAN CENTRE ON CHINA IN THE WORLD
Where does Taiwan stand in 2026? Four scholars on chips, energy, polarisation and identity, plus a restored screening of Hou Hsiao-hsien's The Sandwich Man.
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/08/2026
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Public Media Alliance have urged Taiwan's legislature to stop the proposed budget cuts to the Public Television Service (PTS) and TaiwanPlus The Public Media Alliance said the budget cuts would "weaken an essential cornerstone of Taiwan’s democratic […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/08/2026
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) is not 'anti-China,' says founder Luke de Pulford IPAC aims to help democratic governments develop more realistic policies toward China. Members respect China and the Chinese people. However, they "do not like authoritarianism and don't like the […]
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/08/2026
Taiwan, A Thousand Small Moments youtu.be/qlyLs-W1SWo?si=M4z_Q1Mp4an… #Taiwan #Taiwanderful #travel #台灣
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/08/2026
Badiucao & Melissa Chan Australian book tour They will be in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne this month to talk about their graphic novel 'You Must Take Part in Revolution' #Australia #Sydney #Melbourne #Canberra #GraphicNovel #books
Details of Badiucao & Melissa Chan book tour in Australia. Sydney 22 August, Melbourne 25 & 26 August, Canberra 27 August
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David on Formosa @davidonformosa.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/08/2026
China’s ‘Ethnic Unity’ Law is Already Harming Uyghurs "The damage caused by China’s ethnic unity law is no longer hypothetical. Governments must respond with urgency before forced assimilation and transnational repression become even more deeply entrenched." […]
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