Latest News

Event Recap | Global Citizen Lecture: The Aesthetics of Violence in Protest

Newsletter 2026-07-29

Freedom Line Issue 05: Reclaiming Public Space Between Repression and Memory

Issue 05 of the New School for Democracy's newsletter Freedom Line is out. The following summary is the association's own. Summary of Freedom Line Iss

News Digest 2026-07-21

Why Have Democracies Kept Updating Their China Travel Advisories?

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said recently that since the end of June it has received several more reports of Taiwanese people losing contact aft

Statement 2026-07-17

Statement | When a Government Starts Fearing Books, the Whole Society Loses Its Freedom: In Solidarity with Hong Kong’s Independent Bookstores

Following raids on Hunter Bookstore, Have A Nice Stay, and Field Bookstore, the New School for Democracy Association voices grave concern over Hong Kong's shrinking publishing and cultural freedom.

Event Recap 2026-07-16

Memorial Vigil | Mourning Lobga Rangzen’s Self-Immolation, Protesting the PRC Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress

The New School for Democracy Association joined a Taipei vigil mourning Tibetan activist Lobga Rangzen, who self-immolated before the UN in protest of Chinese assimilation policy.

Forums & Lectures 2026-06-06

June 6 | “Good Country Good People” Talk Recap — From “I” to “Wo Dei”: Art as Human Rights Advocacy

On the evening of June 6, the Good Citizen Culture Action Association and the New School for Democracy Association co-hosted the talk “From ‘I’ to ‘Wo Dei’: Art as Human Rights Advocacy” at Tacit Café in Taichung, inviting performance artist Loretta Lau — founder of Wo Dei NGO DEI, who traveled from The Hague in […]

Forums & Lectures 2026-05-15

2026 Fundraising Tea Gathering | Democracy Lightning Talks

【Tomorrow | Democracy Lightning Talks Speaker Lineup Announced】 The New School for Democracy Association’s 2026 fundraising tea gathering takes place tomorrow. For this gathering, we’ve invited nine speakers to give democracy lightning talks — drawing on their different backgrounds and experiences to share diverse and important perspectives spanning the memory of June 4th, human rights […]

Forums & Lectures 2026-05-13

Witnesses to History: The Scene of June 4th and Taiwan’s Memory

Thank you to everyone who came to the talk. It has now been 37 years since June 4th, 1989. As memory of June 4th is increasingly suppressed in China and Hong Kong and related discussion gradually disappears, it is all the more precious that Taiwan can still openly discuss, commemorate, and reflect on it. In […]

Forums & Lectures 2026-02-28

228 Memorial Day Forum: Lee Ming-che on His Nordic Speaking Tour, China-Hong Kong Human Rights, and Taiwan’s Democratic Resilience

On the afternoon of February 28, coinciding with 228 Peace Memorial Day, Jinan Presbyterian Church and the New School for Democracy Association jointly invited human rights advocate Lee Ming-che to give a talk sharing his Nordic speaking tour and his long-standing, in-depth observations on human rights issues in China. Speaking from the perspective of Taiwanese […]

Exchanges 2026-01-01

Taiwan–Sweden Parliamentary Human Rights Forum: China’s Transnational Repression and Authoritarian Expansion

📍 From the Room Taiwan–Sweden Parliamentary Human Rights Forum · Chamber of the Swedish Parliament With the support of Taiwan in Sweden, the Sweden–Taiwan Parliamentary Association held a human rights forum in the chamber of the Swedish Parliament, focused on China’s transnational repression and authoritarian expansion, deepening understanding at the parliamentary level of how China’s […]

Podcast 2025-12-26

EP6 On Anger, Repair, and How to Keep Going

This episode of Island Echo starts from the experience of Taiwan and Hong Kong collaborating on events, and closely compares the two places’ starkly different protest styles and social movement cultures. The conversation discusses the tension between the directness, heaviness, and solemnity Hongkongers are used to, and Taiwan’s gentler, more everyday approach to action, one […]

Podcast 2025-12-26

EP5 Still Carrying Hong Kong After Leaving: Exile, Responsibility, and the Weight of Democracy

This episode of Island Echo returns to a question that can’t be avoided: why leave, and how do you stay. Drawing on first-hand experience after the Anti-Extradition Law Movement, the conversation looks back at social memory from the colonial era, the structural collapse after the handover, and how the movement pushed ordinary people, step by […]

Democracy What's Up 2025-12-25

S1E02 Lin Fang-ju | Good Citizen Culture Action Association

From the 228 Incident and June 4th to Hong Kong's Anti-Extradition Law Movement, this episode reframes historical trauma through the lens of universal human rights, discussing the importance of the Taiwanese language as a cultural line of defense and how to resist authoritarian cultural infiltration.

Podcast 2025-12-24

EP4 Where You Can’t Speak Up: Language, Trust, and the Pressures of Daily Life

This episode of Island Echo starts from the frustration of learning Taiwanese Hokkien and extends into how language carries cultural memory, generational experience, and social trust. The conversation compares Taiwanese and Cantonese in tone, feel, and the contexts they’re used in, and looks back at how language has been rewritten, eroded, and even gradually erased […]

Podcast 2025-12-24

EP3 Surviving the Streets: Taiwan and Hong Kong

This episode of Island Echo starts from a pedestrian accident and extends into the deep differences between Taiwan and Hong Kong in road design and traffic culture. The conversation compares how the two places imagine “pedestrian priority,” sidewalk planning, and how scooters and cars coexist, and also discusses how night markets, street stalls, and markets […]

Democracy What's Up 2025-11-28

S1E01 Lin Fang-ju | Good Citizen Culture Action Association

Starting from the Sunflower Movement, this episode explores the founding motivations behind the Good Citizen Culture Action Association, the "Art on Freedom Road" festival, and how the meaning of "Taiwanese independence" has shifted across different eras alongside a broadening international outlook.

Podcast 2025-11-19

EP2 Missing the Taste — When Hong Kong Flavors Meet Taiwan’s “Not Used to It” Daily Life

In this second episode of Island Echo, we start from the memory of taste and trace, dish by dish, the differences between Hong Kong and Taiwan’s food cultures. From the cha chaan teng’s set meal and Hong Kong-style dessert soups to Taiwan’s sweet soups, congee, and soupy rice dishes, cuisines that look similar on the […]

Podcast 2025-11-15

EP01 So That’s How It Is! Taiwan vs. Hong Kong, From Banks to Parks

Starting from the everyday experience of a Hong Kong migrant newly arrived in Taiwan, this episode carefully unpacks the institutional and day-to-day differences between the two places. From opening a bank account and applying for a credit card to registering a company, the pace and transparency of administrative processes form a striking contrast — and […]