Screen legend Sir Sean Connery will not take part in the human-chain rally next week, Connery's public relations agent said yesterday.
"Sean Connery is not now nor was he ever planning a trip to Taiwan or Japan," Nancy Seltzer, head of California-based Nancy Seltzer and Associates, told the Taipei Times in an e-mailed statement.
Seltzer said that the James Bond star and Scottish independence activist was booked to appear at the Oscars the day after the human-chain rally took place and will be in the US prior to the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
"We have no idea where this rumor got started, it is a complete mystery," Seltzer said in the statement.
On Thursday a main organizer of the human-chain rally said that Connery was considering taking part in the event -- which will protest China's missile threat against Taiwan -- and would announce his decision at a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
Peter Wang (王獻極), deputy executive director of the Hand-in-Hand Rally, said that the star was approached by Presidential Office officials after meeting President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) at Panama's centenary celebrations last November.
Seltzer's office, however, contradicted Wang, saying that while Chen and Connery did meet in Panama, at no time was the human-chain rally mentioned.
The office said that Connery was contacted after the Panama event by the Taiwan consulate, which extended an invitation from Chen to visit Taiwan as the president's guest. Connery's schedule could not permit a visit, said the office, which also represents singer Whitney Houston and Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman.
A member of the rally organizing team said that she was unaware that Connery was not coming to Taiwan.
"One thing for sure that we know, he hasn't made a decision to come here yet," Wang Ching-wen (王靖雯) said. "That's what we know and what everybody knows."
In response to Seltzer's comments that Connery will not come to Taiwan to attend the rally, Peter Wang said he was "surprised" by Connery's decision when first contacted by the Taipei Times by telephone earlier yesterday.
However, when asked by the reporter again later yesterday about Connery's visit to Taiwan, Wang said "everything is OK and runs smoothly so far."
additional reporting by Chang Yun-ping
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,
RSS