SOCIETY
Literary academic Pei dies
Pei Pu-yen (裴溥言), a renowned scholar of traditional Chinese literature died, of a brain tumor in Los Angeles on Saturday at the age of 96, writer Chi Chi (季季) announced. Pei, a native of China’s Shandong Province, was born in 1921 and studied at the National Women’s Normal College in Sichuan Province before moving to Taiwan at about the time when the Republic of China government was defeated by the Chinese Communist Party in 1949. Pei, who taught in National Taiwan University’s Chinese department, achieved fame for her study and teaching of the Book of Odes (詩經 －先民的歌唱), which comprises 305 poems written in the 11th to 7th centuries BC. Pei was diagnosed with a brain tumor in February. Her husband, Mi Wen-kai (糜文開), who died in 1983, was a diplomat who served in India, the Philippines and Thailand and became famous for his translations of Indian literature, including works by Rabindranath Tagore.
SOCIETY
Teacher wins pole dancing
Lin Hsiang-chen (林詳宸) clinched the top title in the qualifier professional category at the Pacific Pole Championships on Saturday in Los Angeles. Lin was the only non-US competitor, as well as the only dancer from Asia. He was participating in the regional event for the first time, event organizers said. Lin said that he usually spends three months preparing for a competition, but this time he had only about one month. Lin teaches pole dancing at a dance studio. He said that he usually gets off work about midnight, and then rehearses until 3am or 4am. However, the end result is worth the hours, he said. He and the other teachers at the studio want to promote pole dancing in Taiwan through participating in international competitions.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
ANOTHER OPTION: The 13-year-old, whose residency status was revoked for holding a Chinese passport, could still apply for residency on humanitarian grounds, the government said The Executive Yuan has rejected an appeal from a 13-year-old Chinese student surnamed Lu (陸), whose permanent residency was revoked after immigration officers discovered he held a Chinese passport. Lu in December 2023 applied to settle in Taiwan to be with his mother, surnamed Lin (林), who is a Taiwan resident, an appeal decision released this month by the Executive Yuan showed. Lin settled in Taiwan after marrying a Taiwanese man in 2003, but the two divorced in 2011, and after marrying a Chinese man, she had Lu, the Executive Yuan’s appeals committee said. Lu’s application was approved in December 2024, and in
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