ART
Sculptor makes big Buddha
A Taiwanese sculptor has made a 2m tall crystal glass statue of the “Buddha of a Thousand Hands,” saying that she was inspired by an 800-year-old Yuan Dynasty paintings in China. Loretta Yang said the statue is twice as tall as one she made in 2006 that was recognized then as the world’s tallest crystal glass Buddha statue. She says her new statue has a few tiny cracks and is “less than perfect,” but fulfills her wish to preserve in crystal the famous fading Buddha images painted on the Dunhuang Cave’s walls in China’s Gansu Province. Yang is the artistic director and co-founder of glassmaker Liuli Gongfang. She is a Buddhist and has created Buddha statues and other glass works in traditional and modern styles that are on display in Taipei.
Music
Top orchestra to play Taipei
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, one of the world’s top orchestras, will hold two concerts in Taiwan early next year, the event organizer said on Monday. It will be the first time the renowned orchestra, which was founded in 1891, has performed in Taiwan, said the organizer and promoter of the orchestra’s concerts in Taiwan, Management of New Arts (MNA). Led by Italian conductor Riccardo Muti, the orchestra will present a classical music program on Jan. 25 and a different program the following day at the National Concert Hall in Taipei, MNA said at a news conference. Taipei will be the first leg of the orchestra’s Asian tour early next year, it added. The orchestra is one of the five US orchestras commonly referred to as the “Big Five,” along with the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra.
Staff writer, with agencies
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all