Recent events seem to suggest that the line between entertainment and politics is easy to cross. In the US, Hollywood action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger took the California governorship. In Taiwan, former actress May Chin (高金素梅) now serves as a legislator, while television star and singer Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) is expected to run for office. And in Japan, newly-elected Councilor Ren Hou is the celebrity-turned-politician of the moment.
\nHowever, in Taiwan, Ren Hou's claim to fame is not her status as 1988's "Clarion Girl," an award generally seen as a springboard to other opportunities in the entertainment industry.
\nNor is she known for her work as an information broadcast personality. In Taiwan, Ren Hou is known as the first ethnic Taiwanese to be elected to Japan's upper legislative house, the House of Councilors.
\nRen Hou was born to a Taiwanese father and Japanese mother, and is a naturalized Japanese citizen, but she has been called Taiwan's native daughter nevertheless. She is known as Lien Fang (
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
CLEAR BEFORE LEAVING: Two baby boys and a woman in her 30s tested negative before departing for Japan, but tests taken after their arrival came back postive Three Taiwanese tested positive for COVID-19 when they arrived in Japan earlier this month, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday as it reported a new imported case. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), head of the center, said that one of the three cases in Japan is a Taiwanese baby under the age of one, whose parents work in Japan. The infant came to Taiwan with his parents in January, and the parents paid for the family’s COVID-19 tests on Oct. 10 ahead of their planned return to Japan on Monday last week, he said. The boy and his
‘BACKED BY ENEMY’: CTi News is one of the few channels promoting unification, the New Party chairman said, while pro-Taiwan groups called it a propaganda outlet Pan-blue camp supporters yesterday lodged a protest at the National Communications Commission (NCC) against what they say is a possible move by the government to shut down CTi News, adding that politics should not interfere with freedom of the press. Protesters included representatives from the New Party, the Blue Sky Action Alliance, the 333 Political Party Alliance and other pan-blue groups. “We stand here today because CTi News is one of the few media outlets in Taiwan that is still willing to give groups supporting unification with China a voice. If the news channel is gone, there would only be
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The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused CTi News of trying to mislead the public by publishing a half-page advert claiming that the party interfered in the National Communications Commission’s (NCC) review of its application for a license renewal. CTi News is distorting the commission’s review process by painting it as a political conflict and turning it into a smear campaign against the DPP, party spokeswoman Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳) said. “The NCC is an independent body, which carries out reviews and makes decisions based on its members’ professional expertise, as well as regulations and legal requirements governing media operations,” Yen said. “We condemn
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