ENTERTAINMENT
Harry Potter stars visit
British twins James Andrew Eric Phelps and Oliver Martyn John Phelps, who play the Weasley twins Fred and George in the Harry Potter movie series, yesterday met with fans in Taipei and attended the local premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — the seventh film in the series based on novels by British author J.K. Rowling. The film will open in movie theaters on Friday. The twins, who arrived on Monday, said they planned to sample quintessential Taiwanese delicacies during their stay. The twins, the first Harry Potter cast members to ever visit Taiwan, also visited the Taipei International Flora Expo, night markets, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and other tourist attractions.
DIPLOMACY
Bystrom given residency
A former Swedish representative received a permanent resident certificate from Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) at a function yesterday. Henrik Bystrom, former head of Exportradet Taipei, the Swedish Trade Council in Taiwan, was granted permanent residency in recognition of his contribution to the country, the National Immigration Agency said. Bystrom, who served as the de facto Swedish ambassador from 2001 to last year, had been previously honored for his efforts to boost exchanges and relations between the two countries. While in office, he helped in the signing of several important trade, economic and science and technology cooperation agreements. Expatriates who legally live in Taiwan for five years and stay for more than 183 days every year — which can be waived in certain cases — are allowed to apply for permanent residency, the immigration agency said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Directors team up for film
The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival executive committee launched a collaborative project yesterday to bring together 20 Taiwanese directors to make a film dedicated to the country and its people. The directors will be headed by committee chairman Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢), who is one of the country’s most renowned directors, the committee said. Each director will make a five-minute film featuring aspects of the country. The separate works will then be patched into a 100-minute film to be screened at next year’s festival, the committee said. It is the strongest directorial team in Chinese-language film-making history, the committe said. “When filming, I am happy. I am glad to be part of the project, no matter it is a long or a short film,” said Chang Tso-chi (張作驥), whose latest work When Love Comes (當愛來的時候) won 14 nominations in the 47th Taipei Golden Horse Film Awards. This year’s awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on Saturday.
DIPLOMACY
Ma touts EU visa waiver
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday that the country’s expected inclusion into the EU’s visa waiver program indicates that Taiwan is a cultured country. The European Parliament voted 559-40, with 13 abstentions, last Thursday in favor of visa-free status for Taiwanese visitors to 28 European countries. The proposal will have to clear the Council of the EU, most likely early next month, before it can take effect. Ma said that the visa-free status would mean more than just saving thousands of dollars in visa application fees. “Of greater significance is the image of the Republic of China as a cultured, law-abiding nation with high standards,” he said while receiving a Lions Club delegation.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry