Taiwanese artist Liang Dan-feng (梁丹丰) last month met with Mexican Representative to Taiwan Martin Torres, who she met and sketched a portrait of 42 years ago in Copenhagen while she was traveling in her youth.
The two were reunited after Liang was invited to a banquet held by the Mexican Trade Services Documentation and Cultural Office to celebrate Mexico’s Independence Day, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported on Sept. 22, adding that Torres had been a sullen 19-year-old when they first met in Denmark.
Torres, who in July arrived in Taiwan to take up his post heading the office, contacted Liang on Aug. 28 to invite her to the banquet. Torres, accompanied by his family, greeted Liang, 83, at the banquet, where the two warmly embraced.
Torres recalled that he had just graduated from high school when the two first met, saying he had received a scholarship from the Swedish government and was on a trip to Denmark before his studies in Sweden began.
He recalled having a long conversation with Liang, after which she drew his portrait.
“That day and that portrait left a strong impression on me,” the United Daily News quoted Torres as saying, adding that he had held on to the portrait and treasured it ever since, taking it with him whenever he moved.
Torres said it was only a few years ago when he did an online search of Liang’s name, which was written on the portrait in Hanyu pinyin, that he discovered she is a famous Taiwanese artist.
Before coming to the country, he enlisted the aid of the former Mexican representative, who helped Torres’ wife track down Liang.
Liang said she recalls that on the morning they met, she walked into the hotel restaurant and was warmly greeted by everyone except Torres, who kept to himself.
After everyone had left the restaurant, he remained there by himself, prompting her to invite him to sit together and have tea, she said.
He told her at the time that he was from a middle-income family and heading to Sweden to study on a scholarship, she said, adding that the two then joined a day trip with the hotel.
She drew his portrait that evening while they had dinner together at a noodle shop.
Liang said she had asked Torres why he appeared despondent, to which he replied that he was disappointed in young people who, despite their responsibility as the “pillars of society,” always just wanted to have fun.
“You need to establish yourself first before you can influence others,” she said she had told him in reply, adding that he finally smiled upon hearing this.
Torres said his wife came to him one day saying: “I have a great surprise for you!”
She had found Liang and arranged a meeting with her.
Torres said that he immediately recognized Liang when he saw her.
He was very happy to tell her that he had kept the portrait all those years, he said.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods