DIPLOMACY
China rejects deer offer
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesperson Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) yesterday rejected a gift of two Formosan sika deer from the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), saying that it would be better for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to engage practically rather than make symbolic moves. SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) on Oct. 16 said that the organization would gift the deer as a gesture of goodwill. The deer are named He He (和和) and Ping Ping (平平), a play on the Mandarin word for peace, heping (和平). Instead of gifts, both sides should recognize that Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are one country, Zhu told a news conference in Beijing. DPP Legislator Wang Mei-hui (王美惠) said that the SEF’s decision to send the deer demonstrates Taiwan’s efforts to seek peaceful relations and mutual respect, adding that the TAO should stop making baseless statements, as Taiwan has not historically been a part of the PRC, Wang said.
SOCIETY
Actor Shih Ying dies
Actor Shih Ying (石英), known for his many performances in primetime television dramas, has died at the age of 82, his family announced yesterday. In a statement released by Shih’s agency, Phoenix Talent Co, Shih’s children said he died from “natural causes” on Sunday while being treated at the National Taiwan University Cancer Center. Shih “passed away peacefully surrounded by his family,” they said. A public memorial service for Shih, born Lin Chung-ping (林忠平), would be held at the Taipei Second Funeral Parlor on Nov. 17, the statement said. A prominent fixture in Taiwan’s entertainment industry for more than 50 years, Shih appeared in TV dramas such as Mom’s House (娘家), Night Market Life (夜市人生) and Fathers and Sons (父與子). Early in his career, Shih appeared in Justice Pao (包青天) and was short-listed twice for the Golden Bell Awards and Golden Horse Awards for Chinese-language films.
CULTURE
‘BIG’ heads to US theaters
BIG, a Taiwanese film about children in a pediatric oncology ward, is to be screened at 17 major movie theaters in the US and Canada from Friday. Written and directed by Wei Te-sheng (魏德聖), the film about children with cancer in a ward known as Room 816 explores themes of death, friendship and love through six stories. During a media screening in Toronto on Sunday, Wei, who also directed the 2007 hit Cape No. 7 (海角七號) and the two-part historical blockbuster Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (賽德克巴萊), said he was excited about the release, as Taiwanese films are rarely shown in North American theaters. The last time one of his films was featured in North American theaters was the 2012 release of Seediq Bale, he said. Wei said he was at a low point in his life when he wrote BIG and that he felt “reborn and energized” after bringing it to the big screen. “Many people who watched the movie liked it very much, saying it made them feel good to be alive,” he said. The director said he hopes the movie appeals to North American audiences, as there is no boundary between cultures when it comes to “family, friendship and love.” Henri Cheung (張恒傑), cofounder and president of Chime, a Canadian distributor of Asian films for the North American market, said BIG is its first Taiwanese movie. Depending how the movie performs in its first week, it would continue to screen it in the US and Canada, he said.
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