Lee Kun-yi (李坤儀), a granddaughter of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), married James Chao (趙贊凱) yesterday.
The groom, who is president of model management company Catwalk Production House Corp’s Hong Kong branch, arrived at the former president’s residence in Taipei to pick up the bride, according to traditional Taiwanese wedding custom.
The couple then held a Christian ceremony at Taipei’s Jinan Presbyterian Church, at which the former president walked his granddaughter down the aisle and handed her over to Chao.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Lee Kun-yi is the daughter of the former president’s eldest son, Lee Hsien-wen (李憲文), who died of sinus cancer in 1982.
The 92-year-old Lee Teng-hui said he was happy that his granddaughter has gotten married, adding that although he is reluctant to part with her, he has to let go and allow her to build her own family.
He also said he hopes to have great-grandchildren soon.
The day was marred by a protester who allegedly threw a pile of paper at the former president while he was having his photograph taken with the newlyweds after the ceremony at the entrance of the church.
The protester, later identified as pro-unification activist Yang Szu-sheng (楊思聖), was heard loudly accusing the former president of promoting “Taiwanese independence” and shouting: “Long live the Republic of China.”
The paper missed the former president and security personnel quickly put a quick end to the disturbance.
Lee Teng-hui’s response to the disturbance was noteworthy. Though the event was not the first time the former president has been confronted by protesters, moments after he left in his car, he asked his bodyguard to fetch a copy of Yang’s protest material, apparently having taken an interest in the demands.
He was quoted as saying that he would read Yang’s demands closely, adding that he believed the protester “is mistaken in his thinking.”
Lee Teng-hui’s office director Wang Yan-chun (王燕軍) said that the former president was not angry about the matter, but felt slight regret.
Wang added that the event’s security “needed improvement.”
The couple were to hold a wedding banquet at the Mandarin Oriental Taipei hotel yesterday evening.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS