First lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) arrived in Rome on Sunday evening in her capacity as honorary director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre.
Instead of going to her hotel for a rest after a long-haul flight from Taipei, Chow insisted on traveling to Tivoli on the outskirts of Rome to meet Cloud Gate dancers who had arrived a few days previously in preparation for their performances later this week.
Chow took hand warmers from Taiwan to present to the dancers as gifts to boost their morale ahead of the performances.
PHOTO: CNA
Cloud Gate members were quoted as saying that Chow’s appearance came as a surprise because they did not expect the first lady would see them directly after her arrival.
“Many of us were very excited and exclaimed out in joy,” one dancer said.
Chow was greeted by Taiwanese Representative to Italy William Yih (易榮宗), Ambassador to the Holy See Larry Wang (王豫元) and China Airlines executives in Rome upon her arrival at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport.
Camillo Zuccoli, secretary-general of the Italy-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group, presented a bouquet at the airport to welcome Chow on behalf of the Italian parliament.
Yih said he was grateful for the Italian government’s granting of special courtesies to Chow, who was ferried directly from the airport apron to a VIP room by limousine, without having to pass through immigration.
This is Chow’s first trip to Italy since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May 2008. She appeared happy and in good spirits while exchanging greetings with well-wishers.
Earlier this month, Chow led Cloud Gate dancers on a tour of Russia, where they performed Whisper of Flowers at the Chekhov International Theatre Festival from June 10 through June 13.
This time, Chow will accompany the ensemble while they perform in Italy and Spain.
Cloud Gate will stage its classic Songs of the Wanderers today and tomorrow at the Villa Adriana, a complex of classical buildings in Tivoli, near Rome, that was created in the 2nd century by Roman emperor Hadrian.
The troupe will also perform at the Ravenna Festival in northeastern Italy from next Monday through June 29, before flying to Barcelona, Spain, on June 30.
In Spain, the ensemble will present its widely acclaimed Wild Cursive at the Grec Festival in Barcelona from July 1 through July 4.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS