SOCIETY
Local pianist wins US prize
A Taiwanese pianist based in the US won the top prize at the San Antonio International Piano Competition on Saturday and was also honored for best performance of a Baroque work. Lin Lo-an (林洛安) pocketed US$15,000 for winning the competition’s gold medal and earned the chance to perform a solo recital with the San Antonio Symphony in the future. Lin, who began practicing piano at the age of five, has made a name for herself with several high-profile performances, including one at the Kennedy Center in Washington in 2006 and an appearance at the National Concert Hall in Taipei in June this year. The Taiwanese native, who went to the US to pursue her musical education nine years ago, also represented the US at a concert with the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada, in 2007. She is currently enrolled in the Artist Diploma program for gifted musicians at the Yale School of Music.
NATURE
Cross-strait talks on birds
A delegation from the Chongming Dongtan Birds Nature Reserve in Shanghai, China, will visit southern Taiwan from Saturday through Nov. 2 to promote exchanges on bird conservation, the Taijiang National Park said. It will be the first visit by officials from the world-class conservation area in China since a cooperation agreement on bird conservation and restoration was inked between the two sides in May this year, according to the park in Greater Tainan. The delegation will visit Sun Moon Lake (日月潭), Alishan (阿里山) and the wetlands in Tainan to observe black-faced spoonbills, which migrate to the island every year, park officials said. A former bird hunter, who is now considered a national treasure in China, will be part of the Chinese group, the officials said.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
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.
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe