Taichung police on Saturday released 14 people suspected of vandalizing murals at the city’s Rainbow Village tourist site.
The village contains murals and other street art by 98-year-old veteran Huang Yung-fu (黃永阜), who in 2008 started painting on the buildings of a military dependents’ village that were slated for demolition.
Police said that 14 workers from Rainbow Creative Co, which the Taichung City Government contracted in 2013 to maintain the designated cultural landmark, including company head Wei Pi-jen (魏丕仁), were caught painting over Huang’s murals.
Photo courtesy of the Taichung City Government via CNA
Taichung prosecutors are investigating.
Wei told local media that the action was to protest the government’s unilateral decision to have them move out of the village today.
However, a dispute over profit sharing has emerged as Wei argued that Huang’s murals were “passed down” to his company five years ago and that the village was now part of the company’s intellectual property.
Photo: Su Chin-feng, Taipei Times
The Taichung City Government said its contract with the company to run the village and sell related merchandise was terminated yesterday ahead of the start of construction to reinforce buildings in the village.
The park would be closed for six months before resuming operations in February next year, city officials said, adding that the intellectual property issue is being reviewed in court.
Regardless of the dispute, any damage to the village is intolerable, the Taichung Cultural Affairs Bureau said, adding that it would sue Rainbow Creative for damages.
Upon learning of the vandalism, Huang yesterday called Wei a “bad guy” and told reporters that his lifework was ruined.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central