Two twin sisters yesterday made a tearful complaint that a short video in which they voluntarily appeared to help their role model, Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強), with his re-election bid was altered on the Internet and portrayed them as brothel girls.
The twins — Chen Pei-yu (陳珮瑜) and Chen Pei-han (陳珮涵) — who graduated from college this year, said in a press conference held by Hu’s camp last week that they came from Taipei to help Hu’s campaign and that the video, made with friends, was intended to encourage young people to vote for Hu.
In the video, which is available on Hu’s campaign Web site, the twins, accompanied by Hu and other girls, are seen dancing and singing.
The pair claims a version of the clip available on YouTube was altered and portrayed the young women as working as hostesses at a well-known nightclub in Taichung.
In the altered version, footage of the twins is played alongside video of the club and hostesses, with voiceovers claiming the women offer sex services to customers there.
“We are thoroughly humiliated,” the twins said. “Politics are horrible.”
Tang Kuo-tai (唐國泰), a spokesman for Hu’s campaign team, said whoever produced the adulterated version of the video was “evil,” adding that Hu’s campaign office could ask prosecutors to investigate.
Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office spokesman Wu Tso-yan (吳祚延) also said the altered film on YouTube was humiliating and that prosecutors would look into the matter.
Democratic Progressive Party mayoral candidate Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said that while Hu’s camp had initially claimed the twins were volunteers, it was now known that the pair worked for his campaign part-time.
Su said he wondered whether Hu’s camp may not have created the entire incident to attract publicity.
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
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS