William Yang

Free press, free elections, free speech – all present in Taiwan but absent in China. Taiwanese pro-Beijing politician Chou Hsi-wei says, "You can change them." But what evidence does he have for that? He talks to DW's Conflict Zone.

One of the largest social movements in Hong Kong's history has also fueled more anti-Beijing sentiment in Taiwan. Do the protests serve as a warning for Taipei as it considers the future of relations with mainland China?
Hong Kong's anti-extradition bill protest movement has plunged Hong Kong into its worst crisis in decades, with large-scale marches and violent clashes between protesters and police breaking out multiple times over the last three months.
And it all started with the controvers...

In 2014, a group of student-led activists successfully blocked the passage of a controversial cross-Strait trade deal by occupying Taiwan’s legislature. Five years later, Taiwan’s politics and society have gone through tremendous changes, and in the eyes of movement leaders Lin Fei-fan, Taiwan is also facing growing pressure from China.
A lot can happen in five years, and to Sunflower Movement leader Lin Fei-fan, who recently finished his graduate study at The London School of Economics and P...

Press watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recently released a report detailing the Chinese state's attempts to silence negative coverage by imposing its political influence on international media outlets.
China has been actively trying to establish a new world media order in which journalists become nothing more than "state propaganda auxiliaries," press watchdog Reporter Without Borders (RSF) said in a report published on Monday. From exporting censorship models to dictatorial states to...

For almost 40 years, Chinese photographer Lu Guang has been doggedly documenting environmental and social issues in China through the lens of his camera. The impact of his photography has been recognized by almost all major photography awards around the world.
Unfortunately, the renowned photographer has been missing since November 2018, when he was detained in China's Xinjiang autonomous region. "Lu Guang has been missing for a month now and I still haven't received any information about him...

In a landmark first for Asia, Taiwan's parliament has legalized same-sex marriage. The bill allows same-sex couples full legal marriage rights, including in areas such as taxes, insurance and child custody. It followed a long debate and a referendum in which same-sex marriage was rejected by voters. Put forward by the government, the bill also survived attempts by conservatives to pass a watered-down version that would have removed any reference to marriage from the law. Despite the outcome o...

Over 1,000 people attended a mass same-sex wedding banquet outside the presidential palace in Taipei on Saturday, one day after Taiwan legally recognized the first same-sex marriages in Asia.
As the sun set over the capital, eager spectators lined up along Ketagalan Boulevard, where countless protests and parades for LGBTQ rights have taken place in the last few decades, to witness the marriage of 20 same-sex couples.
The mood was convivial, as the site of protest became one for celebration.
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It's been 30 years since the Chinese government launched a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters at Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Student activists that participated in the demonstrations vividly recall the belligerent night.
Zhou Fengsuo, one of the Tiananmen activists, described the June 4, 1989 Beijing as "a battlefield."
"We were surrounded by security forces, and we could hear gunshots all around us. But Beijing's citizens put up a brave resistance, and that is why student protester...

Making their Nights debut, William Yang joins us from Taiwan's capital, Taipei with a reaction to Taiwan's landmark legalization of same-sex marriage, the 30th Tiananmen Square Commemoration in Taiwan and the Upcoming primary for Taiwan's presidential election in 2020.

A self-made tycoon who earned a fortune by assembling iPhones for Apple is promising Taiwan he’ll impose a special tax on the ultra-rich if he gets to become president.
Terry Gou, the 68-year-old founder of Foxconn Technology Group, was described by one Taiwanese magazine as “the most powerful freshman in politics” (link in Chinese) after he announced plans to compete in next year’s presidential election, hoping to be selected as the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party’s candidate. The party, w...

Taipei is due to take a series of decisive steps this week to legalize same-sex marriages before the May 24 deadline set by the island’s top court. However, deep divisions in public opinion may stall the process.
Over 1,500 pro-marriage equality supporters gathered outside Taiwan's legislature earlier this week as lawmakers tried to smooth out differences among three competing draft bills on same-sex marriage. Many of the protesters are hoping to be able to legally marry their same-sex partne...

On a rainy Friday in Taipei, Taiwan made history becoming the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage.
Over 40,000 supporters had gathered in the capital outside the legislature since the early hours, according to the rally’s organiser, many of them taking overnight buses from other parts of Taiwan to join the demonstration.
As the bill was passed, the crowds celebrated, chanting: “First in Asia!”
Jennifer Lu, from the Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan rights group, broke down into...

Uighurs living in the US and Europe have told DW that Chinese authorities are going after family members still living in China to suppress activism by the Uighur community living abroad.
At least 1.5 million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities are thought to be detained in "reeducation camps" in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region, in the far northwest corner of the country. Reports indicate that many of these people simply disappear from their homes and cities.
On Wednesday, ambassadors of mo...