Taipei 101 yesterday promised not to include political or provocative words in its New Year fireworks show, defusing recent speculation that the Tourism Bureau would use the show to promote the nation's UN bid by showing "UN for Taiwan" on the city's landmark.
Terms that help to promote the country's image, such as "Taiwan" or "I Love Taiwan" will be shown during the fireworks show this year, said Michael Liu (劉家豪), an assistant vice president at Taipei 101.
"The Taipei 101 is a business organization. We've been working with the Taipei City Government to host the show, and we will keep the show as a joyful event this year and prevent any provocative words," Liu said when invited to discuss the fireworks show at the Taipei City Council.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (
According to DPP Taipei City Councilor Chuang Jui-hsiung (
The fireworks were sent to the Kaohsiung Port on Dec. 8, but remained in customs until yesterday as the fire department failed to sign the approval document.
"Taipei 101 is not a municipal unit, and has not received any subsidies from the city government. Hau Lung-bin has no right to intervene in the show with this political examination," Chuang said.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Liu Yao-ren (劉耀仁) joined Chuang in condemning Hau for abusing municipal authority to prevent Taipei 101 from showing "UN for Taiwan," urging the mayor to focus his efforts on municipal developments, rather than creating conflict.
Hsu Li-ren (
Michael Liu said that Taipei 101 was concerned about the review process, as the preparation of the fireworks takes about two weeks.
With the approval of the fire department, he said Taipei 101 would start preparing the show, and release a demonstration video of the show next week.
The show this year will include 12,000 fireworks, and is expected to attract more than 600,000 spectators, he said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS