With only six days remaining before the Nov. 29 nine-in-one elections, some Hualien County residents said they were “disgusted” when they found a sand sculpture of Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) and his wife placed conspicuously at the venue of a local flower festival scheduled for next month, calling it an act of “brown-nosing.”
Fu, an independent seeking re-election, is currently appealing to the Supreme Court in the hopes that the judges will overturn a ruling the High Court passed down in August last year that sentenced him to three years in prison for speculative stock trading.
His wife, Hsu Chen-wei (徐榛蔚), has also registered as a Hualien commissioner candidate, which has been widely seen as a contingency plan in case her husband is indicted prior to the election.
Photo: CNA
Earlier this month, the Fuli Township Farmer’s Association commissioned sand carving artist Yeh Kun-ting (葉坤定) to create the piece, which was nearing completion yesterday.
The artwork, made of soil dug from the fields, features caricatures of Fu and his wife sitting on top of the Taiwan Railways Administration’s Taroko Express, with Fu giving the thumbs-up gesture, prompting speculation that the piece was created to further Fu’s political aims, given the elections next week.
The sculpture, meant to promote the flower festival slated for next month, drew some criticism from passers-by.
“Isn’t that the commissioner and his wife? That’s disgusting,” one said.
“Whoever did this must be really desperate to brown-nose,” another said.
In response, Fuli Township Farmer’s Association Promotion division head Lin Hui-huang (林輝煌) said that Fu has taken the Taroko Express north many times to help market the county’s agriculture and horticulture, touting him as “local farmers’ best friend.”
The sand sculpture of Fu giving the thumbs-up sign is meant to show Fu’s solidarity with local farmers, not meant to suck up to him, 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
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
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