Following the success of soap opera The Fierce Wife (犀利人妻) in Latin America last year, another Taiwanese TV drama is set to debut in the region this month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Friday.
The award-winning drama The Way We Were (16個夏天) is to be broadcast on 13 TV channels in Honduras, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic — seven of Taiwan’s 22 diplomatic allies — and in Argentina, Colombia and Mexico, the ministry said.
The Fierce Wife — the first Taiwanese TV show to be broadcast in the region — was a hit among Latin American audiences, and many viewers were eager to see other Taiwanese TV dramas, Department of International Information Services acting director-general Jeremy Liang (梁洪昇) said at a news conference.
MOFA in conjunction with the Ministry of Culture selected The Way We Were from several Taiwanese contenders, he said.
In an effort to promote popular Taiwanese culture, the two ministries provided funding for TV channels that broadcast the show so that the show could be dubbed in Spanish, a process that took about half a year.
The TV channels broadcasting the show do not have to pay for the rights, MOFA said.
The show focuses on friendship and love, Liang said, adding that he believes it will touch the hearts of many in the region.
The show stars Taiwanese actresses Ruby Lin (林心如) and Ann Hsu (許瑋甯), Taiwanese actors Weber Yang (楊一展) and Jason Tsou (鄒承恩), and Malaysian-Chinese actor Melvin Sia (謝佳見).
The show follows a romantic story that spans 16 years, from the summer of 1998 to 2014. It is set against historical events that occurred during the 16 summers, such as a massive earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999, the outbreak of SARS in 2003 and the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009.
It won three awards at the Golden Bell Awards last year, including for best TV series and best director for a TV series. Ruby Lin was also nominated for best lead actress at Singapore’s Asian TV Awards last year.
Taiwan is not the first Asian country to export its TV dramas to Latin America, with South Korean TV shows having been popular in the region for many years.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked