The eight-year-long relationship between model and actress Sonia Sui (隋棠) and her boyfriend Yao Yuan-hao (姚元浩) has had its ups and downs, but recent revelations about Yao’s on-again, off-again romance with singer Cyndi Wang (王心凌) have led to public scenes, as well as long distance recriminations and contrition, which have risen to operatic proportions.
On Wednesday, when Sui faced the media as part of a public event in Kaohsiung, she broke down and was in tears for over an hour. She was quoted as saying about the ongoing revelations that Yao was on a number of occasions less than faithful: “Like everyone else, I watch the news, and each time there are revelations [about Yao], things I never knew. There are no words to express my shock and despair. Every time I read the new revelations, it is like a knife cutting into my heart, again and again.”
The news of Wang’s involvement came out as an incidental item in yet another breakup between Sui and Yao. That Yao has been successfully two-timing two such high-profile women has been manna from heaven for the media, which have since been picking through the minutiae of Yao’s career to see if his romantic activities encompass other persons of interest. A suggestion that he might have had a fling with Penny Lin (林韋君), the B-movie actress and TV host notorious for her amorous adventures back in 2007, has been forcefully denied by her in the press.
Photo: Taipei Times
Speaking from Hangzhou, China, Yao has apologized to both Sui and Wang, and maintains that Sui “is still the most important person in my life.”
A report in the United Daily News quoted Yao’s agent as saying that “At that time [May to August, 2011], Yao’s relationship status was single, so naturally he had the right to make new friends.”
Earlier in the week, Wang rejected the accusation from elements of the media that she was a home-wrecker. She admitted to the romantic relationship with Yao, but added that after Yao got back with Sui again, she voluntarily backed off, stating that “yielding was a way of rounding off the affair” (退讓也是一種成全).
Sui and Yao have emerged as TV celebrities of the first rank and are treated as the darlings of the entertainment industry. Sui, who first achieved eminence as the first lady of Catwalk (凱渥), Taiwan’s foremost modeling agency, then became a household name with successful acting roles in the police drama Black and White (痞子英雄) and family soap The Fierce Wife (犀利人妻). Yao managed to parley his relationship with Sui into greater media exposure, and hit gold with his role in the TV series Rookies’ Diary (新兵日記). According to an analysis of their careers by United Daily News, publicity stunts featuring purported real-life romantic involvements between on-screen characters put huge pressure on the relationship, especially media suggestions last year of a connection between Sui and Fierce Wife co-star Chris Wang (宥勝).
Another relationship that has seen more than its share of ups and downs has been that between Nicolas Tse (謝霆鋒) and Cecilia Cheung (張柏芝). It has generally been agreed that the marriage had come to an end with the divorce of the couple following the notorious “airplane incident” (機上事件), when Cheung and ex-flame Edison Chen (陳冠希) snapped pictures of themselves on a flight to Hong Kong, a painful reminder to Tse of the explicit photos of the two that had been leaked on the Internet some years earlier. A divorce was announced in August last year, but now there are rumors that the two might get back together again, and even that the divorce has not yet been formalized according to Hong Kong law.
A report in the Hong Kong’s Oriental Daily said that Cheung had brought in spiritual practitioners to facilitate the reunion though various elaborate rituals, and this seems to have had some effect as she has been photographed recently together with Tse. The media is clearly gearing up for the makeup of the decade.
Jason Han says that the e-arrival card spat between South Korea and Taiwan shows that Seoul is signaling adherence to its “one-China” policy, while Taiwan’s response reflects a reciprocal approach. “Attempts to alter the diplomatic status quo often lead to tit-for-tat responses,” the analyst on international affairs tells the Taipei Times, adding that Taiwan may become more cautious in its dealings with South Korea going forward. Taipei has called on Seoul to correct its electronic entry system, which currently lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan),” warning that reciprocal measures may follow if the wording is not changed before March 31. As of yesterday,
The Portuguese never established a presence on Taiwan, but they must have traded with the indigenous people because later traders reported that the locals referred to parts of deer using Portuguese words. What goods might the Portuguese have offered their indigenous trade partners? Among them must have been slaves, for the Portuguese dealt slaves across Asia. Though we often speak of “Portuguese” ships, imagining them as picturesque vessels manned by pointy-bearded Iberians, in Asia Portuguese shipping between local destinations was crewed by Asian seamen, with a handful of white or Eurasian officers. “Even the great carracks of 1,000-2,000 tons which plied
On Thursday, former Taipei mayor and founder of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Seven others related to the case were also handed prison sentences, while two were found not guilty. It has been a bad week for the TPP. On Tuesday, prosecutors charged Chinese immigrant Xu Chunying (徐春鶯) with suspicion of taking part in Beijing-directed election interference. Xu has strong links to the TPP, which once offered her a party list legislator nomination. Tuesday also
Nuclear power is getting a second look in Southeast Asia as countries prepare to meet surging energy demand as they vie for artificial intelligence-focused data centers. Several Southeast Asian nations are reviving mothballed nuclear plans and setting ambitious targets and nearly half of the region could, if they pursue those goals, have nuclear energy in the 2030s. Even countries without current plans have signaled their interest. Southeast Asia has never produced a single watt of nuclear energy, despite long-held atomic ambitions. But that may soon change as pressure mounts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, while meeting growing power needs. The
RSS