Taichung police on Saturday released 14 people suspected of vandalizing murals at the city’s Rainbow Village tourist site.
The village contains murals and other street art by 98-year-old veteran Huang Yung-fu (黃永阜), who in 2008 started painting on the buildings of a military dependents’ village that were slated for demolition.
Police said that 14 workers from Rainbow Creative Co, which the Taichung City Government contracted in 2013 to maintain the designated cultural landmark, including company head Wei Pi-jen (魏丕仁), were caught painting over Huang’s murals.
Photo courtesy of the Taichung City Government via CNA
Taichung prosecutors are investigating.
Wei told local media that the action was to protest the government’s unilateral decision to have them move out of the village today.
However, a dispute over profit sharing has emerged as Wei argued that Huang’s murals were “passed down” to his company five years ago and that the village was now part of the company’s intellectual property.
Photo: Su Chin-feng, Taipei Times
The Taichung City Government said its contract with the company to run the village and sell related merchandise was terminated yesterday ahead of the start of construction to reinforce buildings in the village.
The park would be closed for six months before resuming operations in February next year, city officials said, adding that the intellectual property issue is being reviewed in court.
Regardless of the dispute, any damage to the village is intolerable, the Taichung Cultural Affairs Bureau said, adding that it would sue Rainbow Creative for damages.
Upon learning of the vandalism, Huang yesterday called Wei a “bad guy” and told reporters that his lifework was ruined.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
NATURAL INTERRUPTION: As cables deteriorate, core wires snap in progression along the cable, which does not happen if they are hit by an anchor, an official said Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) immediately switched to a microwave backup system to maintain communications between Taiwan proper and Lienchiang County (Matsu) after two undersea cables malfunctioned due to natural deterioration, the Ministry of Digital Affairs told an emergency news conference yesterday morning. Two submarine cables connecting Taiwan proper and the outlying county — the No. 2 and No. 3 Taiwan-Matsu cables — were disconnected early yesterday morning and on Wednesday last week respectively, the nation’s largest telecom said. “After receiving the report that the No. 2 cable had failed, the ministry asked Chunghwa Telecom to immediately activate a microwave backup system, with
RSS