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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
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