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Taiwan News Quick Take

■ DIPLOMACY

Obama to push ties: Bush

A US expert familiar with Taiwanese affairs said on Sunday he believed the incoming US government led by president-elect Barack Obama would continue policies aimed at pushing for closer relations between the US and Taiwan. Richard Bush, senior fellow and director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, as well as a former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, made the remarks at a gathering of the Taiwanese American Association in Washington. Bush, who was also one of Obama’s election campaign staff in charge of diplomatic policies, was honored with an award for his contributions to US-Taiwan affairs over the past several decades. In May, Bush attended the inauguration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) as a member of the US government delegation. He has been widely regarded as a likely point man in handling cross-strait affairs in the Obama administration.



■TOURISM

Hawaii governor visits

Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle said yesterday that Hawaii was a destination of great value. Lingle, on her second visit to Taiwan since 2001 as part of an Asian tourism promotional tour, touted her home state as a beautiful island with a rich, diverse culture. She said that next year would be a great year to visit Hawaii as the island would be holding festivities all year-round in celebration of its 50th anniversary of statehood. Taiwan and Hawaii have been sister islands for 15 years.



■FILM

‘Crazy Beautiful’ wins award

Crazy Beautiful, a film by director Lee Chi-yuan (李啟源), received a Special Jury Award at the this year’s International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg in Germany, which ended on Sunday after 10 days. The work was one of 18 films from 14 countries in the film festival’s international competition section. An international jury picked Lee’s film for the Special Jury Award. Lee told reporters that it had never occurred to him that the film would win an award at the Mannheim-Heidelberg Film Festival. In Taipei, the Government Information Office said Crazy Beautiful was entitled to a cash award of NT$200,000 (US$6,000) from the government for winning an international honor. Lee said that after receiving the award, he “praised the courage of the jury” for picking his work. He said the three actresses in the film were all acting in a movie for the first time and that their performances were “surprisingly beautiful.”



■EDUCATION

Team inspects Tamkang

A group of foreign experts visited Tamkang University yesterday in relation to its application for an International Safe School designation, which is aimed at enhancing safety awareness and education. The experts, led by Max Vosskuhler, chairman of the WHO International Safe School Committee, led the inspection of the Tamkang University campus in Taipei County. Jeng Hoang-ell (鄭晃二), executive secretary of the university’s school health and safety task promotion team, said the university has worked for years on establishing the institution as a safe school. Jeng said that the university established an online system that registers the causes, frequency and locations of all injuries and accidents that occur on and near the campus, a move that gave the university an advantage in its application.


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