Don’t be surprised if Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛, aka Big S) is seen praying to the “Old Man Under the Moon” (yuexialaoren, 月下老人, or the deity of love and marriage) for help.
Pop Stop readers will recall that Hsu married moneybags Wang Xiaofei (汪小菲) five months ago amid rumors that the Chinese businessman had knocked her up. Chinese-language media reported that the lavish affair, fit for the fairy-tale world of a Barbie doll, cost over NT$30 million.
Since then, gossip hounds have noted that Hsu’s clothing, typically form-fitting and revealing, has tended toward full-fitting and concealing — a hint that the earlier rumors were true. But don’t break out the cigars yet: It seems that all is not right in fantasyland.
Photo: Taipei Times
Chinese-language media reported that the pair looked visibly peeved with each other after returning from a “second honeymoon” in Europe last week. This led NOWnews and the United Daily News to speculate that the on-board tiff was the result of a miscarriage. The couple dismissed the rumors.
Could it be possible that the longevity of a celebrity marriage is inversely proportional to the lavishness of its wedding ceremony? Who knows, but the gossip has led to rumors of recriminations from both sides that are reminiscent of the soap opera that has become Cecilia Cheung’s (張柏芝) life.
And speaking of Cheung, reports in the China Times and the Apple Daily say she has apologized to her mother-in-law, Deborah Lee (狄波拉), in a further attempt to save her marriage with estranged husband Nicolas Tse (謝霆鋒).
The Hong Kong actress, who is on notoriously bad terms with Lee, reportedly sent a text message saying she wanted to reconcile with Tse. She was also alleged to have committed herself to returning two properties — previously owned by Tse and worth NT$740 million — to make peace.
Cheung’s gestures are the latest since the May “airplane incident” (機上事件), when she and ex-flame Edison Chen (陳冠希) snapped pictures of themselves on a flight to Hong Kong, a reminder of the naked photographs of Cheung and Chen that were leaked on the Internet three years ago.
The “airplane incident” fallout was predictable: Tse got pissed off, Cheung threatened divorce. Tse agreed, Cheung reneged. They’ve barely spoken since. In an attempt at reconciliation, the couple met a few weeks back, but that tete-a-tete reportedly descended into chaos, with Cheung shouting profanities at her husband.
Things appeared to be looking up when Tse appeared at their son Lucas’ fourth birthday party earlier this week. Sina.com reported, however, that in addition to gifts, Tse came bearing divorce papers. Cheung refused to sign them. Stay tuned for the next installment of this unfolding melodrama.
While some couples clearly need help from the Old Man Under the Moon, others seem to be doing just fine. Pop Stop is happy to report that an October wedding between singer Selina Jen (任家萱), who was severely burned in an accident last year, and Richard Chang (張承中) seems ever more likely.
Selina’s father Jen Ming-ting (任明廷) let the cat out of the bag in June when he said the couple would probably wed on Halloween. This was followed up last week with comments by fellow S.H.E band member Hebe Tien (田馥甄), who said that their wedding plans were proceeding apace. Gossip hounds took it as confirmation of the autumn betrothal. Tien, for her part, refused to comment on the official date, stating that she would wait for an announcement from Jen’s record company.
The “multi-talented” (actor, singer, musician, producer, director and restaurateur) Jay Chou (周杰倫) wants to officially add another skill to his growing resume: magician.
“Magic is a great ice breaker that helps a lot with the ladies,” he said after performing a few tricks with well-known Taiwanese conjurer Louis Liu (劉謙) while attending a press conference for the opening of their magic-themed restaurant. It is the Chairman’s third restaurant venture, according to sina.com.
Chou’s talents attracted the attention of veteran model Shatina Chen (陳思璇), who chuckled her way through some of Chou’s card tricks.
But all wasn’t giggles. When Chou caught sight of paparazzi photographing the pair, he demanded that the photographers delete the photos.
As well he should because he wasn’t entertaining his rumored girlfriend, 17-year-old Hannah Quinlivan (昆淩), who didn’t attend the opening. (The 32-year-old Chairman is apparently exempt from the half-your-age-plus-seven rule.)
Last week Joseph Nye, the well-known China scholar, wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s website about how war over Taiwan might be averted. He noted that years ago he was on a team that met with then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), “whose previous ‘unofficial’ visit to the US had caused a crisis in which China fired missiles into the sea and the US deployed carriers off the coast of Taiwan.” Yes, that’s right, mighty Chen caused that crisis all by himself. Neither the US nor the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exercised any agency. Nye then nostalgically invoked the comical specter
Relations between Taiwan and the Czech Republic have flourished in recent years. However, not everyone is pleased about the growing friendship between the two countries. Last month, an incident involving a Chinese diplomat tailing the car of vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) in Prague, drew public attention to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) operations to undermine Taiwan overseas. The trip was not Hsiao’s first visit to the Central European country. It was meant to be low-key, a chance to meet with local academics and politicians, until her police escort noticed a car was tailing her through the Czech capital. The
April 15 to April 21 Yang Kui (楊逵) was horrified as he drove past trucks, oxcarts and trolleys loaded with coffins on his way to Tuntzechiao (屯子腳), which he heard had been completely destroyed. The friend he came to check on was safe, but most residents were suffering in the town hit the hardest by the 7.1-magnitude Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake on April 21, 1935. It remains the deadliest in Taiwan’s recorded history, claiming around 3,300 lives and injuring nearly 12,000. The disaster completely flattened roughly 18,000 houses and damaged countless more. The social activist and
Over the course of former President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) 11-day trip to China that included a meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping (習近平) a surprising number of people commented that the former president was now “irrelevant.” Upon reflection, it became apparent that these comments were coming from pro-Taiwan, pan-green supporters and they were expressing what they hoped was the case, rather than the reality. Ma’s ideology is so pro-China (read: deep blue) and controversial that many in his own Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hope he retires quickly, or at least refrains from speaking on some subjects. Regardless