■ Movies
GIO unveils promotional film
The Government Information Office (GIO) unveiled a short film yesterday as part of its efforts to revive the sagging local movie industry. In the short film, titled Taiwan Film Anna, GIO Director-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) plays a "Dragon Brother" trying hard to please "Taiwan Film Anna," who is played by a fashion model, to symbolize the government's strenuous efforts at revitalizing the sagging movie industry. Lin said at the presentation that it took six hours for him to shoot the six scenes in the film. "My acting skills are lousy, but I thought my appearance might be humorous and thus help raise local people's concern for our movie industry," Lin said. Since Lin assumed his current post, the GIO has formed a special commission to review the government's policy regarding the local film industry and to work out measures to remove any obstacles to the development of the industry.
■ Politics
Candidate walking for votes
Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU, 無黨團結聯盟) legislative candidate Lin Ming-yi (林明義) hit the road yesterday for a 16-day walk around Yunlin County to drum up support prior to the legislative elections. Lin, who joined the NPSU in recent months after having a falling out with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), was accompanied by his mother, NPSU Chairwoman Chang Po-ya (張博雅), NPSU Secretary-General Chen Chieh-ju and supporters at a ceremony marking the beginning of his trek. He is scheduled to walk across all 20 cities, townships and rural townships around Yunlin County over the next 16 days. Lin said that he will walk around the county to help raise Yunlin residents' political awareness and bring them "out of the darkness and deception" which he claimed has long clouded politics in the region. Lin, who had been a KMT legislator for three terms before 2001, is the only candidate that the newly-established NPSU is fielding in Yunlin County.
■ Television
TV festival held in Taipei
The 2004 Taipei TV Festival opened at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall yesterday. The exhibition features a "TV Mall" section for ordinary visitors, which runs through Sunday, and a "TV Market" section for professionals, which will run from Nov. 28 to Nov. 30. The "TV Mall" has gathered 38 exhibitors with a total of 271 booths. A variety of themes are covered, including frequency platforms, TV shopping, home appliances, digital multi-media, audio/video publications, cartoons and digital content value-added applications. The "TV Market" will feature 93 exhibitors with a total of 268 booths.
■ Diplomacy
Officials invited
Representatives from several Latin American countries are expected to visit Taiwan next month, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Ho Ching-shan (侯清山), director-general of the ministry's Central and South American Affairs Department, said Taiwan has invited officials from El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Paraguay. Foreign dignitaries who have promised to visit include Salvadoran Econo-mics Minister Yolanda Mayora de Gavidia, Guatemalan Economics Minister Marcio Cuevas, Paraguayan Foreign Minister Marcial Bobadilla Guillen, and Dominican Presidential Office Secretary-General Danilo Medina Sanchez. Most of the scheduled visits are for the purpose of discussing economic affairs.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
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