■ SOCIETY
Museum spruces up
In an effort to improve the landscape around the National Palace Museum, the Taipei City Government will decorate Ziqiang Tunnel (自強隧道) with plants and art pieces from the museum. The Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs said it would install a calligraphy piece on top of the tunnel and landscape its surroundings. Art pieces chosen from the museum will also be placed along the tunnel's walls. The city government will also improve the landscape in nearby Shuangxi Park (雙溪公園) and in local communities to improve the appearance of the area.
■ EDUCATION
Canada renews agreement
Canada, the first country to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on academic exchanges with Taiwan, renewed the agreement yesterday, the Ministry of Education said. The agreement was renewed to facilitate student and teacher exchanges between the two countries, the education ministry's Bureau of International Cultural and Educational Relations announced in a press release yesterday. The first memorandum was signed in May 2004 and expired last month, it said.
■ MEDIA
Lee to address journalists
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) has been invited to address the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ) this weekend, FCCJ officials said yesterday. Lee will speak on Japan's foreign policy and then take questions from the media, the officials said. The event will replace an original plan by Lee to hold a news conference on Saturday, the same day he is scheduled to wrap up his 11-day visit and return to Taiwan. The FCCJ has more than 300 members.
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
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
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