Music. A huge concert hall. On stage: 35 blind musicians giving a benefit concert produced by the Pier 3 Art Company in Taipei. A Taipei Times reporter was there, sitting in the back, listening. Beethoven's Sonata No 21, played by Huang Dong-yu. Blind, his fingers sailed across the keyboard with dazzling dexterity. Mozart's Sonata in E Minor, according to the program notes, played by He Wen-sheng and Huang Dong-yu on violin and piano. A choir of four Aboriginal men, singing folk songs from the Lukai and Zou tribes. Zeng Yi-zhen, Chen Guang-hui, Chou Yu-kai on the erhu fiddle, bamboo flute and piano, respectively. Beautiful, beautiful music. The concert was titled "Compassion for the Vision of Beauty and Grace: A Benefit Concert for the Visually Disadvantaged." The sponsors note: "We are proud and grateful that our nation has the environment to have groomed such outstanding musicians against their physical difficulties." The musicians' blindness had nothing to do with a listener's appreciation, although it made it all the more amazing. Next concert: Nov. 15. Call (02) 2658-9877 for more information.
Excuse me, are these your dentures?
Umbrellas, motorcycle helmets, wallets, and toilet seats. These are the tools of the trade of Liu Hsiu-lun (
"We've got everything you could imagine here, all looking for a home," Liu says. And that home could be yours, if you can prove that one of the items under Liu's care is rightfully yours.
But if you can't come up with credible evidence supporting your claim, you can always wait. Here's the rule: all items left unclaimed for six months belong to the finder. But often the people who find things on the MRT don't want to keep them, adding to the racks of umbrellas, piles of notebooks and mounds of helmets. And of course there are rarer finds, like a computer case, a toilet seat and a pair of dentures. You just never know what you might find on the MRT.
Coin set honors Paiwan culture
Officials from the Central Bank of China have announced that they will be launching a set of coins featuring the Paiwan tribe of Pingtung later this month. The 200,000 sets go on sale Sept. 28. According to Wu Shao-chih, director of the bank's issuance department, not only will the coins be valuable to collectors, they will be educational as well, honoring Aboriginal culture. The bank plans to celebrate all nine indigenous tribes set by set.
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Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
’DISTORTION’: Beijing’s assertion that the US agreed with its position on Taiwan is a recurring tactic it uses to falsely reinforce its sovereignty claims, MOFA said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said Chinese state media deliberately distorted Taiwan’s sovereign status, following reports that US President Donald Trump agreed to uphold the “one China” policy in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). During the more than one-hour-long call, Xi urged Trump to retreat from trade measures that roiled the global economy and cautioned him against threatening steps on Taiwan, a Chinese government summary of the call said. China’s official Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying that the US should handle the Taiwan issue cautiously and avoid the two countries being drawn into dangerous
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