A Democratic Progressive Party legislator threatened yesterday to launch a recall drive against Ilan County Commissioner Lu Kuo-hua (呂國華) if he insists on replacing a popular children's folkgame festival with a new activity.
Chen Chin-de (
restrictions
Chen's comments came in the wake of Lu's announcement a day earlier that his office would unveil a plan for next year's summer activities at the end of September, which he guaranteed would not be smaller than the existing festival.
Lu, of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), also said that the phrase "children's folkgames" has restricted the event's development.
In response, Chen said that the "children's folkgame festival" is a "brandname" that the county is proud of.
The event should not be closed for good "just because the commissioner is not willing to organize such a big festival," Chen said.
He said that since Lu announced an end to the annual summer festival, there have been increasing protests against the move from the industrial and cultural sectors, as well as on the Internet.
Many Internet users have even joined an online campaign to depose Lu, he said.
world event
Chen said that 127 art and music troupes from 67 countries around the world have performed in the festival since its 1996 inception. So far, it has been visited by more than 5 million people and has generated countless business benefits.
The colorful and festive event is of profound significance in the fields of city diplomacy, economic benefit and cultural arts, Chen said.
Lu explained, however, that heavy losses incurred by the annual festival over the past two years have made it necessary to bring down the curtain on the event for good.
Lu said the two-month festival has created a financial burden of approximately NT$50 million (US$1.5 million) for the county government during each of the last two years despite efforts to curb costs.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS