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.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS