HOUSING
Hundreds to be demolished
The New Taipei City Government plans to start tearing down 205 illegal rooftop dwellings on Friday in the wake of a fatal fire last month, Public Works Department chief Chu Ti-chih (朱愓之) said. The fire on Nov. 22 killed nine people in a four-story building in Jhonghe District (中和), which had an illegally constructed fifth floor that was partitioned into 13 rooms. The city has been tearing down illegally constructed additions to buildings even before the fire occurred, Illegal Construction Demolition Corps deputy head Chen Chia-hsing (陳嘉興) said. To stop unscrupulous landlords from building illegal structures and partitioning them to make a profit from renting them out, the city had launched a special investigation in 2015, which has so far uncovered 930 structures, of which 725 have been torn down, he said. The demolition corps would start dismantling illegal dwellings even if there are people living in them, Chen said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Actor wins Singapore award
Taiwanese actor Tsai Chen-nan (蔡振南) won the best actor in a leading role award at the 22nd Asian Television Awards in Singapore on Friday last week. Tsai took home the award for his portrayal in the mini-series She’s Family (媽媽不見了) of an old male chauvinist who has diabetes and urinary incontinence, and cannot take care of himself. Tsai’s character must rely on his daughter to take care of him after his wife, played by Yang Kui-mei (楊貴媚), walks out on the family. Yang won the best supporting actress award for her role in the mini-series. In total, Taiwanese collected five awards, including best cinematography for Far and Away (外鄉女), best original screenplay for Life Plan A and B (荼蘼), and best terrestrial channel of the year for Formosa Television.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
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