ART
Singer’s China show axed
Taiwanese Mando-pop singer Tien Fu-chen (田馥甄), better known as Hebe Tien of the girl band S.H.E., yesterday expressed regret after her scheduled performance in China next month was canceled by the Chinese event organizer. Tien was initially listed in the line-up to perform at the Bubbling Boiling Music & Arts Festival in Tianjin on Thursday. Following protests attributed to “little pinks” — a term used to describe young, jingoistic Chinese nationalists online — event organizers on Saturday announced her performance would be canceled. Chinese online pundits have labeled Tien a supporter of Taiwanese independence ever since August 2022 when she posted a picture of herself eating spaghetti on Instagram at a time when then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. Pelosi is of Italian descent and Tien’s post was taken as a show of support for Pelosi. Tien has not performed in China since. Separately, Taiwanese singer Crowd Lu (盧廣仲), originally slated to perform on Friday at the Strawberry Music Festival in Beijing, would not be performing at the event anymore, event organisers said on April 21, citing a health issue of a member of Lu’s team. Lu was previously blacklisted by Chinese authorities over his support of the 2014 Sunflower movement.
Photo courtesy of Pourquoi Pas Music
FOOD
Sudan III found in pepper
A black pepper product submitted by a New Taipei City company for voluntary testing that was found to contain a synthetic chemical dye has been recalled, the city government said yesterday. The samples, submitted by YOU-CI Co, contained Sudan III and Sudan IV industrial dyes that are banned from use in food products, said the New Taipei City Department of Health, which tested the pepper products. As a result, that brand of black pepper powder, which is sold mainly to bulk buyers, has been recalled in the city, the department said. It said it has collected ingredient samples from the company’s suppliers for testing, to determine whether the toxic dyes were in the raw materials used or were added during the production process. The batch of contaminated black pepper — about 170kg — had been distributed in New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung and Kaohsiung, and in Yilan, Hsinchu, Changhua, Yunlin and Pingtung counties, the department said, adding that all the local governments have been informed of the problem.
DIPLOMACY
Former AIT head joins GTI
Former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) director Brent Christensen is to join the Washington-based think tank Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) the institute said. “As a longtime Taiwan fan, I look forward to working with the GTI to promote stronger US-Taiwan relations,” Christensen was quoted as saying in a press release issued by the institute on Thursday. Institute executive director Russell Hsiao (蕭良其) said: “[Christensen’s] lifelong passion for Taiwan and dedication to the practice of US foreign policy are precisely the combination of enthusiasm and hands-on expertise that will help further the unique role that GTI plays in advancing the vital US-Taiwan partnership.” Christensen is to become the third member of the institute’s advisory board who has served as AIT director, along with Stephen Young and William Stanton. The institute was founded in 2016 with a vision to “raise awareness, deepen affinity, and create opportunities for strengthening the relationship between Taiwan and the international community,” it said.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
A mountain blaze that broke out yesterday morning in Yangmingshan National Park was put out after five hours, following multi agency efforts involving dozens of fire trucks and helicopter water drops. The fire might have been sparked by an air quality sensor operated by the National Center for High-Performance Computing, one of the national-level laboratories under the National Applied Research Laboratories, Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters said. The Taipei City Fire Department said the fire, which broke out at about 11am yesterday near the mountainous Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) Recreation Area was extinguished at 4:32pm. It had initially dispatched 72 personnel in four command vehicles, 16
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