This week on the Debrief we update you on Taiwan’s execution of five death row inmates, including two brothers convicted with evidence collected by Chinese authorities; Taiwan’s international labor day protests, the planned free trade pilot zones, and a personal account during a visit to areas devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines last year.

  • On April 29, Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice ordered the execution of five inmates on death row. The execution of the Tu brothers, who were accused of murdering five people in Guangdong in 2001, marked the first executions of murder suspects convicted with evidence provided by PRC authorities…
  • At least 10,000 people took to the street on May 1st in observance of the International Workers Day and to demand better working conditions for labor workers. The march called for increasing the minimum wage, lowering the unemployment rate, and ending the exploitation of dispatch workers…
  • Right after the Cross-Straits Services Trade Agreement was at the forefront of public debate in Taiwan, another free trade policy is now being deliberated in parliament and may come into effect in the near future…
  • Typhoon Haiyan, locally known as Yolanda, was the deadliest typhoon on record in the Philippines, with a width of 370 miles and wind gusts of 235 miles/hour. Our guest correspondent Ping-Ya Hsu brings you a first hand account six months later…

(Feature photo of children in Tacloban, the Philippines, by Ping-Ya Hsu)

 

A well informed citizenry is the foundation of our modern society. Every week, our news team brings you the most important stories on current affairs, diplomacy, business and human rights, in Asia and around the globe. Not only can we be well informed, but better informed, about the relationship between our lives, our communities, and the common world.
The Debrief