China is inviting Taiwanese women to compete in its Miss China beauty pageant, but the nation's top beauties aren't interested in the contest, which requires them to "passionately love the motherland" and "support the Communist Party," a newspaper reported yesterday.
The reigning Miss Taiwan, Liu An-na (
"I very passionately love Taiwan," the newspaper quoted Liu as saying. "Why would I have to endorse the Communist Party and the motherland. There's no way I could participate."
The newspaper said that women from Hong Kong and Macau have also been invited to compete in the contest. Another Taiwanese, Beverly Chen (陳思羽), who represented Taiwan in last June's Miss Universe contest in Panama, said she doesn't plan to compete, the newspaper said.
"I have no desire to participate. I'll let someone else have the opportunity," she was quoted as saying.
Chen got caught up in the China-Taiwan rivalry during the Miss Universe contest when China pressured the organizers to insist that she not wear her "Miss Taiwan" sash on stage. She was forced to wear a sash that said "Miss Chinese Taipei," the title the country uses in the Olympics.
Chen told reporters in Panama that there were no hard feelings between her and the Miss China contestant, Wei Wu (
For decades, China refused to hold beauty pageants or send contestants to the major competitions, such as Miss Universe. But last year, China sent its first delegate to the Miss Universe pageant in 51 years.
This year, China plans to host the Miss World contest on Dec. 6 in the city of Sanya on Hainan Island in the South China Sea.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
RSS