A private foundation has offered a top prize of NT$1.2 million (US$39,600) for a historical fiction competition that encourages local writers to write about people and historical events in Taiwanese history.
The New Taiwan Peace Foundation, founded by Taiwan independence advocate Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏), announced the competition format yesterday at a press conference.
Koo, 89, said the competition would pay back the country he loves and that it is important “for the current generation to understand where their ancestors came from.”
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The foundation, established with Koo’s donation of US$100 million — about half of his assets — is to begin accepting entries in September next year and the winner is scheduled to be announced in December next year.
Known for his outspokenness, Koo also addressed several political issues yesterday, including the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) election of a new chair and the next presidential election.
Koo said DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) were all unqualified for the DPP chairmanship, but if he had to make a choice, he would pick Su over the others.
The DPP election is scheduled to be held in May.
Koo reiterated his theory that Taiwan is not mature enough to have a female president and said that was why he would not support Tsai’s presidential bid in 2012.
In the presidential election in 2016, he said the DPP should be represented by the younger generation, such as Greater Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) or DPP Legislator Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), who will be running in the Greater Taichung mayoral race in November.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
American climber Alex Honnold is to attempt a free climb of Taipei 101 today at 9am, with traffic closures around the skyscraper. To accommodate the climb attempt and filming, the Taipei Department of Transportation said traffic controls would be enforced around the Taipei 101 area. If weather conditions delay the climb, the restrictions would be pushed back to tomorrow. Traffic controls would be in place today from 7am to 11am around the Taipei 101 area, the department said. Songzhi Road would be fully closed in both directions between Songlian Road and Xinyi Road Sec 5, it said, adding that bidirectional traffic controls would
RSS