President Chen Shui-bian's (
The traditional ceremony and banquet for the new couple was not open to the media. Therefore nearly 100 reporters gathered in front of the presidential residence to cover the whole event from a distance. Four members of the newly launched Next (壹周刊) magazine, however, pretended to be photographer's assistants in an attempt to enter the presidential residence, but were caught and ejected by security guards.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Chen Hsing-yu, 25, met Chao last October; when the couple were introduced to each other by Han I-hsiung (韓毅雄), a senior NTU Hospital doctor. They announced their intention to marry in April.
President Chen and his in-laws to be are all from Tainan County, a bastion of traditional standards in wedding and engagement ceremonies. As part of the tradition, the president's 70-year-old mother Chen Lee-shen (
The engagement ceremony began at around 10am, an auspicious hour according to the Chinese Lunar almanac, and was finished within one hour. The first family and Chao's relatives, about 50 people, then enjoyed a banquet prepared by the Asia Pacific Hotel's Chao Chou restaurant in Taipei.
The banquet, usually an opportunity for the bride's family to show off, was relatively modest -- a 12-course Cantonese meal for 50 guests at NT$1,500 (US$43) per person, according to the caterer.
President Chen personally instructed the caterer last week to change the original menu of the banquet and take off the usual delicacy -- shark fin soup, replacing it with oyster soup.
Soup made from the fins of sharks is a Chinese delicacy traditionally eaten on special occasions. But environmentalists warn that as so many sharks are being killed for soup, the fish could soon face extinction.
Earlier yesterday morning, four reporters from Next magazine drove a black Honda Accord in an attempt to mingle into the Chao family motorcade and enter the presidential residence. Security guards were suspicious after counting seven cars in the motorcade entering the compound, instead of the six they expected.
After checking the last car, the security guards rushed to check the previous cars, which were already in the compound. They found four people in the black Honda Accord, who were unable to produce identification. The four initially claimed that they had been sent by a wedding boutique company hired to take photos of the ceremony, according to the police. Police detained the four for questioning.
The four were identified as a reporter and two photographers from Next magazine and a driver. The first family has filed charges against the four, who face up to one year in prison if convicted of trespassing.
Later yesterday evening, the Presidential Office issued a press release expressing regret for the incident. The statement said that while the first family has tremendous respect for the freedom of the press, since the incident endangered security at the presidential residence, it was a matter for the presidential security detail to handle.
Pei Wei (裴偉), editor in chief of Next magazine, said that his reporters had no intention to trespass into the presidential residence. The reporters mistakenly thought the ceremony was open to outsiders when they saw the security guards beckoning them, Pei said.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
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