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.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS