Zhang Ziyi (章子怡) is threatening to sue the Apple Daily (蘋果日報) after the newspaper published reports that the Chinese actress had taken money in exchange for sexual encounters with disgraced politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) and other high profile men.
After the rumors broke, Zhang quickly took steps to protect her reputation, including issuing a denial and flying to Hong Kong to meet with a lawyer. Zhang also put in an appearance at the Chinese Film Media Awards (華語電影傳媒大獎), appearing unperturbed as she smiled and posed for photographs on the red carpet. Though she refused to answer questions from reporters, Zhang told the press that she was happy to be at the ceremony.
But the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (臥虎藏龍) star did not mince words on her microblog. “I’m not fighting this alone,” Zhang wrote, adding that she had discussed her legal options with her lawyer, who has already sent out letters to the Hong Kong media outlets that first published reports about Zhang’s alleged paid dalliances.
Photo: Taipei Times
Disgraced Taiwanese-Japanese actress Makiyo is also doing damage control to her reputation after pleading guilty to assaulting a taxi driver. Makiyo and her friend Hsiang Ying (湘瑩), who was also at the scene of the February incident and later pleaded guilty to perjury, were recently spotted selling cookies at a charity event. The friends managed to raise NT$4,000 for physically disabled children.
Though she has been unemployed since having her work permit revoked, Makiyo told reporters that she hasn’t been idle. In addition to abstaining from alcohol and pursuing volunteer opportunities, Makiyo has taken up yoga and horse riding lessons.
Like her friend, Hsiang Ying has been unable to work and now lives off her savings. The actress is occupying herself with yoga, speech training classes and helping her mother sell fried chicken.
Photo: Taipei Times
Makiyo says she hopes to return to show business one day, but is keeping a pragmatic attitude.
“I’ve worked in the industry for 14 years, so it’s just another form of work to me,” she said. “If I can’t go back, it’s fine. I don’t want to keep depending on the entertainment business.”
Despite their charity work, Makiyo and Hsiang Yang still have a long way to go before they return to the good graces of the media. A Liberty Times reporter noted the irony of the two friends taking a taxi after the charity event. The driver dropped them off at a cafe where Hsiang Yang puffed away on a cigarette under a “no smoking” sign. The cafe’s owner later told the reporter that she granted Hsiang Yang permission to smoke because she was outside.
Afterward, the same taxi arrived to take the two women to their next destination. The Liberty Times wondered if Makiyo now has a personal driver because other cabbies are wary of her patronage. Makiyo’s manager insisted that while his client always calls the same company, she usually takes different taxis.
Faye Wong’s (王菲) daughter has also been living in seclusion. The teenager is not in trouble with the law, but with her parents, who are fed up with the girl’s rebelliousness. According to media reports, Dou Jingtong (竇靖童), Wong’s daughter with her first husband Dou Wei (竇唯), has turned into a back-talking party girl.
After repeatedly clashing with stepfather Li Yapeng (李亞鵬), Dou Jingtong was shipped off to a Shanghai boarding school. After the 15-year-old managed to sneak off to a nightclub with a male classmate, her angry mother ordered her home to Beijing. Dou Jingtong is now under strict supervision when not in class.
She may not be allowed out of the house, but Dou Jingtong found yet another way to rebel last week. Like many teenagers, she took to her blog to complain. “Life is just so limited wen [sic] ur [sic] young,” Dou Jingtong wrote in English. “You can never make your own decisions of where you want to live, what you want to do.”
In recent weeks the Trump Administration has been demanding that Taiwan transfer half of its chip manufacturing to the US. In an interview with NewsNation, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said that the US would need 50 percent of domestic chip production to protect Taiwan. He stated, discussing Taiwan’s chip production: “My argument to them was, well, if you have 95 percent, how am I gonna get it to protect you? You’re going to put it on a plane? You’re going to put it on a boat?” The stench of the Trump Administration’s mafia-style notions of “protection” was strong
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With one week left until election day, the drama is high in the race for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chair. The race is still potentially wide open between the three frontrunners. The most accurate poll is done by Apollo Survey & Research Co (艾普羅民調公司), which was conducted a week and a half ago with two-thirds of the respondents party members, who are the only ones eligible to vote. For details on the candidates, check the Oct. 4 edition of this column, “A look at the KMT chair candidates” on page 12. The popular frontrunner was 56-year-old Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文)
“How China Threatens to Force Taiwan Into a Total Blackout” screamed a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) headline last week, yet another of the endless clickbait examples of the energy threat via blockade that doesn’t exist. Since the headline is recycled, I will recycle the rebuttal: once industrial power demand collapses (there’s a blockade so trade is gone, remember?) “a handful of shops and factories could run for months on coal and renewables, as Ko Yun-ling (柯昀伶) and Chao Chia-wei (趙家緯) pointed out in a piece at Taiwan Insight earlier this year.” Sadly, the existence of these facts will not stop the
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