Valentine's Day celebrations took an unusual twist in Taipei yesterday, with a "Virtual Lesbian Wedding" at 228 Memorial Park -- featuring independent vice-presidential candidate Chu Hui-liang (朱惠良) and Sisy Chen (陳文茜), director of the Rising People Foundation (新興民族基金會) as the two "brides."
Independent presidential hopeful Hsu Hsin-liang (
The ceremony was part of a "gay Valentine's day celebration" organized by gay rights groups, in which the Hsu-Chu ticket took part to show their endorsement and commitment to gay and lesbian rights. It was a public relations gesture on the candidates' part.
"This `virtual wedding' is an important political announcement," Chu said. "That is, we believe everyone should have equal rights, regardless of whether they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or heterosexual." Chu was dressed in a suit for the mock wedding.
"Only hypocritical politicians dare not touch on the issue of gay and lesbian rights," said Sisy Chen, who wore a wedding veil. Chen, also a spokesperson for the Hsu-Chu camp, criticized politicians who had did not attend Taiwan's first openly gay wedding four years ago in Taipei, when two men `tied the knot.'
DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), then Taipei mayor, had originally been scheduled to attend, but cancelled at the last moment, citing illness.
Conducting the wedding yesterday, Hsu wished all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, a "fearless" future. He also promised to set up co-habitation and anti-discrimination laws to guarantee civil rights for gay people if he is elected in March.
The Hsu-Chu ticket is the only camp to openly include gay rights in their campaign policies and discuss the issue in public, according to the Taiwan Gay and Lesbian Association (台灣同志協會).
The Ministry of Interior recently rejected the group's application for government registration, saying the group encourages homosexuality.
"We want people to know that we comprise 10 percent of the nation's population, and we definitely have voting power," said Wang Ping of the Taiwan Gender Sexuality Rights Association.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
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