■POLITICS
Hu hopping mad over ad
Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) yesterday said that a cosmetic surgeon who used a photo of Hu’s wife to promote a cosmetic cream could face litigation. Local media reported that a television commercial showed the surgeon claiming that the couple are grateful for the effect of a cream from his clinic. The ad says the cream helped Hu’s wife Shirley Shaw (邵曉鈴) recover her looks after a serious car accident, showing a photo of Shaw and what is said to be a note of appreciation signed by the mayor. According to reports, the cosmetic surgeon’s father was formerly Hu’s colleague at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the note shown in the ad was a card Hu sent to the surgeon’s father. Hu said yesterday that Shaw had never used the cream or received advice or treatment from the medical team that appear in the advertisement.
■SOCIETY
Man becomes oldest groom
A 96-year-old temple keeper has become the nation’s oldest recorded groom after marrying a woman less than a third his age, local media reported yesterday. The man, surnamed Lin (林), who runs a Taoist temple in Tainan County, married a 30-year-old from China’s Hunan Province, the Apple Daily said. Lin, who has two adopted children, although he has never married, told the paper that he was “instructed” by the gods to go to Hunan to find a wife. He decided to tie the knot despite strong objections from his 68-year-old adopted son, who suspected that the elderly man had been conned, the report said. “I must have a companion in my old days ... I’ve never been married before so why can’t I marry her? [My son] is unfilial,” he was quoted as saying. Lin is currently applying for his wife to come to Taiwan to live with him, the report said.
■TRANSPORTATION
Cardholders can use trains
Starting yesterday, holders of Taiwan EasyGo Cards can use them on Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) trains. The Taiwan EasyGo Cards are mainly used by public bus passengers in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin, Hualien and Taitung Counties. The TRA said passengers with Taiwan EasyGo Cards can use trains operating on the line from Rueifang (瑞芳) to Hsinchu (新竹). Passengers can use their cards at any of the 29 stations on this section of line. Passengers can also use Taipei EasyCards to access the TRA system between Keelung and Jhungli (中壢), which has 19 stations. Passengers boarding with either EasyGo Cards or EasyCards can take any type of train service at the price set for commuter trains, plus a 10 percent discount. Aside from the EasyCards and EasyGo Cards, the TRA is also encouraging commuters to buy its monthly pass, enabling them to board any train for the price of a commuter train ticket plus a 15 percent discount.
■ DIPLOMACY
Ma stops off in Guam
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) arrived in the US territory of Guam yesterday from the Solomon Islands for a brief refueling stop en route to Palau for a state visit. American Institute in Taiwan Chairman Raymond Burghardt, the top US liaison officer with Taiwan, boarded Ma’s plane to welcome him upon arrival. Guam Governor Felix Camacho and US Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo also came to the airport to greet Ma. He departed the Solomon Islands earlier in the day. Palau will be the sixth and final leg of his weeklong diplomatic tour of the country’s six allies in the South Pacific. He has already visited the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Nauru and the Solomon Islands. He is due back in Taipei today.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by