SOCIETY
Art work crossing strait
An acclaimed installation at China’s Pavilion in last year’s World Expo in Shanghai — the animated Along the River During the Ching-ming Festival — will be displayed in Taipei from July 1 to Sept. 4. At 110m long and 6m wide, the animated version of the historical hand scroll will be on display for visitors to the Expo Dome, Taipei Deputy Secretariat Chen Yung-ren (陳永仁) said. The animated scroll was based on the work of 12th century Sung Dynasty artist Zhang Zeduan (張擇端), whose lively portrayal of the daily life of ordinary people in the capital city of the Northern Sung Dynasty — Bianjing (Kaifeng) — has captured the fascination of people for generations. The original work is stored at the Palace Museum in Beijing. The electronic adaptation of the painting is 30 times bigger than the original and can switch between a daytime and nighttime view of the scene.
ENVIRONMENT
EPA to auction seized ship
A ship belonging to South Korea’s Samho Shipping that authorities seized earlier this year will be auctioned on June 15 to pay off fines incurred in a 2005 benzene leakage in Taiwanese waters from another vessel owned by the same company, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said. The Samho Onyx was detained by EPA and Ministry of Justice personnel on Feb. 25 when it entered Mailiao Harbor in Yunlin County. The money raised through the auction will be used to reimburse more than NT$60 million (US$2.1 million) in fines that the company accrued for water pollution after its vessel Samho Brother, carrying 3,100 tonnes of benzene, sank off Hsinchu County in October 2005. EPA officials said that although the South Korean company has paid more than NT$10 million in fines, it still owes more than NT$60 million. The reserve price of the auction for the Samho Onyx has been set at US$7 million, the EPA said.
SPORT
All-female race held
More than 7,000 women and girls wearing pink T-shirts joined the nation’s first long-distance foot race exclusively for women yesterday. The participants ranged from pre-schoolers to 60-year-olds in an event that featured a 9km and a 5km race. “It doesn’t feel so competitive when running with girls,” said Hsu Yu-fang (許玉芳), who won the 9km race in 30 minutes, 24 seconds. “It feels more comfortable.” The event, starting on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office, also included massage services, nail-painting, makeup activities and performances by local singers.
POLITICS
Tsai vague on running mate
During a campaign event yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) struggled to respond to questions surrounding a her choice of running mate. DPP -Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) is increasingly seen as a possible pick as Tsai seeks to shore up local and business ties. On Saturday, Tsai said to reporters that a joint ticket would be “prosperous,” because of their same year of birth, 1956, and their place in the Chinese zodiac calendar. However, in an apparent back-down yesterday, she repeated earlier comments that a running mate requires a party-wide consensus. The DPP “doesn’t have to rush the issue” and in the meantime would focus on coordinating the election campaign, she said. “There are many people that have the sign of the monkey within the DPP. You don’t have to look too far into this.”
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
The Republic of China Army Command yesterday relieved Kinmen Defense Battalion commander after authorities indicted the officer on charges connected to using methamphetamine. The Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday detained Colonel He (何) after the Coast Guard linked him to drug shipments and proceeded to charge him yesterday for using and possessing crystal meth. The man was released on a NT$50,000 bail and banned from leaving Kinmen, the office said. Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Chen Chien-yi (陳建義) told a news conference yesterday that He has been removed and another officer is taking over the unit as the acting commander. The military
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