Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) revealed her humanitarian side earlier this week when she held a press conference to help promote World Vision relief efforts for victims of the Sichuan earthquake, reported the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper).
But rather than ask questions about her volunteerism, such as what exactly she'll be doing in Sichuan Province or does she plan to show this kind of compassion for victims of the cyclone in Myanmar, the journos on hand pestered the diva with questions about the size of the diamond in Delia Tseng's (曾馨瑩) new ring (which reportedly weighs in at a whopping 10 carats).
Readers of Pop Stop will recall that Tseng is marrying Terry Gou (郭台銘), the megabucks president of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), on July 26. What led to such vapid questions were earlier reports that Tseng, a dancer in Tsai's music videos and concerts, showed off the ring while the two performers were getting a manicure.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
The wedding ceremony between the two lovebirds will take place at Taipei's Grand Hyatt Hotel after which the pair will fly off with an entourage to a castle in the Czech Republic. The guest list is said to include family, friends such as Tsai and celebrities such as One Million Star "talent" show celebrity Aska Yang (楊宗緯).
Speaking of Yang, he may have the voice of an angel but he's got the connections of a two-bit hoodlum. At least that's what the Apple Daily implied in a report on Monday. The gossip rag caught up with former gangster Chang Chung-hsin (張忠信) who discussed his past association with the crybaby crooner.
It turns out the Yang's foray into the entertainment biz began when Chang introduced Aska to celebrity agent Hsu An-chin (許安進). However, a contract dispute last year between Hsu and Yang focused the spotlight on Chang's underworld activities, which eventually landed him in prison for violating the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪條例).
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
Meanwhile, Chang says he has found religion and spends his days studying Buddhism. When Apple asked him to comment on his relationship with Yang, Chang replied, "Our karma has ended (緣起緣滅)." Yang has also remained tight-lipped about his relationship with the underworld figure.
In other gangster news, Carina Lau (劉嘉玲) set the record straight about her traumatic experiences in 1990 in an interview with Hong Kong socialite and novelist Eunice Lam (林燕妮) that was published last week in Guangzhou's Nanfang Daily (南方日報). Lau told Lam that she was kidnapped by triads 18 years ago and forced to pose naked for photographs, which were leaked and published in East Week (東周刊) magazine in 2002. The images, showing a clearly distressed Lau, sparked a huge protest by Hong Kong celebrities and forced the magazine's closure.
Lau revealed that while being held against her will, Hong Kong hunk and boyfriend Tony Leung Chiu Wai (梁朝偉) negotiated for her release with the gangsters. Leung, in an act of selflessness rarely seen in showbiz, put his career on hold for a year and devoted all his time to Lau's recovery, telling the New York Times, "A human being is more important than a movie." Leung's noble actions, Lau said, were the reason why she fell in love with him.
The couple will marry in Bhutan on July 21 in a wedding that, in addition to family, boasts an A-list cast of Hong Kong celebrities including Wong Kar-wai (王家衛), who will direct the ceremony.
To make it the storybook wedding it deserves to be, the couple made a blacklist, according to Apple. Terry Gou's rumored relationship with Lau ensured he wasn't invited, while interloper Maggie Cheung (張曼玉) was also kept off the guest list.
In the March 9 edition of the Taipei Times a piece by Ninon Godefroy ran with the headine “The quiet, gentle rhythm of Taiwan.” It started with the line “Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention.” I laughed out loud at that. This was out of no disrespect for the author or the piece, which made some interesting analogies and good points about how both Din Tai Fung’s and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) meticulous attention to detail and quality are not quite up to
April 21 to April 27 Hsieh Er’s (謝娥) political fortunes were rising fast after she got out of jail and joined the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in December 1945. Not only did she hold key positions in various committees, she was elected the only woman on the Taipei City Council and headed to Nanjing in 1946 as the sole Taiwanese female representative to the National Constituent Assembly. With the support of first lady Soong May-ling (宋美齡), she started the Taipei Women’s Association and Taiwan Provincial Women’s Association, where she
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
It is one of the more remarkable facts of Taiwan history that it was never occupied or claimed by any of the numerous kingdoms of southern China — Han or otherwise — that lay just across the water from it. None of their brilliant ministers ever discovered that Taiwan was a “core interest” of the state whose annexation was “inevitable.” As Paul Kua notes in an excellent monograph laying out how the Portuguese gave Taiwan the name “Formosa,” the first Europeans to express an interest in occupying Taiwan were the Spanish. Tonio Andrade in his seminal work, How Taiwan Became Chinese,
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