■FILM
‘KATZ Fun’ debuts in US
The Taiwan-made 3D animated cartoon KATZ Fun has made its debut on TV channels in the US and will air for three months in its first season, a manager of Bright Ideas Design said yesterday. “Season one of this cartoon series, comprising 13 episodes, will be broadcast on TV channels in 17 states in the US,” international marketing manager Erica Lee said. The company had spent four years and NT$60 million (US$1.88 million) to develop the cartoon. “KATZ Fun is the story of a mystical tiger named Katz who helps children develop their potential talents,” Lee said. Bright Ideas Design is a digital content development company in Taiwan. It stepped into the field of animated cartoons after cooperating with the National Palace Museum to combine art and humanities with digital technology to show the beauty of art. Lee said the company was also in final talks with potential buyers from Southeast Asia. Some representatives of TV channels from South Africa and Europe have also expressed interest in the animation, she said.
■EDUCATION
Ministry adds calligraphy
Chinese calligraphy lessons will be integrated into the curriculums for people training to be Mandarin teachers in elementary and junior high schools in Taiwan within three years, Yang Chang-yu (楊昌裕), director of the Ministry of Education’s Department of Elementary Education said yesterday. Yang said the ministry decided to require teachers to learn calligraphy skills because no higher education institution in Taiwan maintains a calligraphy department and few teachers know the skill, and therefore are unable to teach it to students. The ministry will also study the possibility of making Chinese calligraphy part of the school curricula, Yang said.
■DEFENSE
MND donates fighter jet
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday that it has donated a retired F-5 fighter jet to the Yanks Air Museum in Los Angeles. The museum held a ceremony to mark the donation of the aircraft, with the chief of the nation’s Defense Mission to the US, Major General Po Hung-hui (伯鴻輝), representing the MND at the ceremony. In December 2008 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the MND to donate a retired combat aircraft and two retired jet engines to the museum. The aircraft was freshly painted before leaving Taitung air base for the US. The fighter, with the two engines, left Keelung in November and arrived in Los Angeles in January, the MND said.
■TRAVEL
Kaohsiung welcomes ship
The luxury cruise liner Europa moored in Kaohsiung Harbor yesterday, bringing more than 300 tourists — mostly from Germany. Welcomed by drummers on the wharf, the 338 tourists disembarked for a one-day tour of the city. Tony Wu (巫宗霖), director of the Tourist Service Center at Kaohsiung International Airport, said the government’s goal was to attract more tourists like these to stay in the country for more than one day. The global market for ocean cruises is growing and seems to have been unaffected by the global financial crisis, Wu said. Last year, Taiwan hosted more than 30 liners, each of which had thousands of passengers on board, he said. To persuade cruise operators to put Taiwan on their itineraries, the Tourism Bureau has been promoting Taiwan overseas and offers mooring discounts, he said. Each tourist on the Europa spent an average of around NT$2,000 in Kaohsiung, he said.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with