Taiwanese actress Vivian Hsu (徐若瑄), who was in tears following a row in which members of Taiwan’s delegation to the Tokyo International Film Festival were unable to walk the “green carpet” because of Chinese opposition, quickly became the subject of a spat between fans on both sides of the Taiwan Strait who have split into pro-Hsu and anti-Hsu camps.
Having wept openly at the opening ceremony, Hsu made several entries on her microblog to express her frustration afterward. Hsu said she “wanted to cry but had no tears left” and that “some things that happen just can’t be helped.”
Taiwanese actress Shu Qi (舒淇) attempted to comfort Hsu, saying: “There are too many things we’d like to solve but can’t. If you’re tired, go to sleep. Your health, at least, is one thing you can make sure of.”
Controversy brewed over Hsu’s tears as Chinese and Taiwanese fans argued it out in comments posted on her blog. The pro-Hsu netizens sympathized with her and other members of the Taiwanese delegation for their frustration, while the other camp accused the actress of playing to the cameras for publicity.
The controversy also drew attention on China’s Web portal Baidu, with more than 80 percent of Chinese posters saying they would boycott any performance by Hsu in China. Some Chinese posters even blamed the festival’s Japanese hosts for the incident.
“It’s the Japanese up to their tricks again, creating divisions between Taiwan and mainland China,” one poster said, while another commented: “The Japanese are stirring up trouble on purpose, but the Taiwanese are dancing to their tune.”
Some even suggested that the argument over what name the Taiwanese delegation would use had something to do with the territorial dispute between China and Japan over the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) and that Taiwan was acting like a gun in Japan’s hand.
As the Taiwanese delegation was unable to walk the green carpet at the event’s opening ceremony due to vehement opposition by the Chinese delegation over the delegation’s use of the name “Taiwan” rather than “Chinese Taipei” or “Taiwan, China,” Taiwanese actor Alec Su (蘇有朋), who starred in the Chinese movie Love Song of Kangding (康定情歌), was criticized for “putting fame before country” by performing the film’s theme song during “China Night” on Monday evening.
Su may well have known he was the only Taiwanese performer that night, as he looked distinctly uncomfortable when he realized Taiwanese journalists were present. He decided not to attend the press conference that followed, citing a “stomach ache.”
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS