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.
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