CULTURE
Chinese play to rock Taipei
A rock musical based on a play by Chinese writer Gao Xingjian (高行健), the 2000 Nobel Laureate for Literature, will be staged in Taipei next month, one of the producers said on Sunday. The musical was adapted from A Tale of Shan Hai Jing (山海經傳), said National Taiwan Normal University. The play is based on ancient Chinese mythology and includes legends like that of Houyi (后羿), a hero who shot down nine suns; Kua Fu (夸父), a giant who tried to catch the sun; and Yu the Great (大禹), a ruler said to be able to control floods. Beijing opera star Chu Lu-hao (朱陸豪), soprano Ho Kang-ting (何康婷) and university students will be cast in the play, which is being co-produced by Gao and the university. The musical will be staged from June 28 to June 30 at the National Theater.
CULTURE
Arts show vows adventure
This year’s Taipei Arts Festival will take visitors on adventures through art, organizers said yesterday. The festival opens on Aug. 1 and is to be held until Sept. 8 in different venues around the city. Events include 10 dance, theater and circus performances from Taiwa and abroad, said the Taipei Culture Foundation, which is organizing the festival with the Taipei City Government. The festival aims to explore the adventurous nature of art, said Keng Yi-wei (耿一偉), the event’s artistic director. For example, one piece to be performed is a play featuring a robot and a humanoid robot among its actors, while another performance blends contemporary circus stunts with traditional Quebec music, Keng said. German actress Anne Tismer, German musician Moritz Gagern and Taiwanese novelist Jade Chen (陳玉慧) will also co-produce a contemporary opera inspired by Wagner.
ENVIRONMENT
No casualties in CPC fire
A fire broke out yesterday at a residue desulfurization unit operated by state-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan’s (CPC) refinery in Greater Kaohsiung, but there were no casualties, the city’s Environmental Protection Bureau said. A preliminary report indicated that hydrogen gas had been emitted after the fire broke out, the bureau said. It said the fire was caused by a fracture in a pipe in the residue desulfurization unit II. Nearby residents reported hearing explosions and smelling a pungent odor coming from the refinery. The fire began at 12:33pm and was extinguished at about 1:05pm by a team of 52 firefighters and 22 fire trucks. Operations at the refinery have been suspended pending investigations by the city’s fire department and labor affairs department.
DIPLOMACY
Changhua group tours Japan
Changhua County Commissioner Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源) met with Gunma Prefecture Governor Masaaki Osawa during a visit to the prefecture in Japan on Friday. Heading a delegation of county officials and 70 elementary school students, Cho met with Osawa and a group of Japanese officials and schoolchildren at the prefecture government office as part of a mission to improve ties between the two areas. The children took pictures of each other and the mascots of Changhua County and Gunma Prefecture — a doll called Flying and a horse named Gunmachan, which stems from Gunma’s days as a horse breeding center. Cho said relations between Changhua and Gunma are close, as evidenced by Changhua’s exports of rice and grapes to Japan and the prefecture’s high-quality farm produce sold in Changhua County. The Changhua County group is on a five-day visit to Japan that began on Thursday last week.
SOCIETY
Organ donations encouraged
More than 8,000 people are waiting for organ transplants, but too few people are willing to donate organs in the event of an accident, the Taiwan Organ Registry and Sharing Center said on Sunday. Only 198 people made organ donations last year, but those donations benefited 680 people, the center said. Although the survival rate for organ recipients in this nation is about the same as that in Europe and North America, medical institutions are facing a severe shortage of organs, the center said. It urged the public to register their willingness to donate organs on their national health insurance cards and help family members make decisions to donate at critical moments. The center was set up by the Department of Health in June 2002. It is dedicated to improving the rates of organ donation and transplantation success, building a fair, open and transparent sharing system, and shortening the organ transplantation waiting times for patients.
EDUCATION
Children take health course
One hundred Aboriginal children from six townships in Taitung and Pingtong counties were invited to participate in a two-day training program on personal hygiene, disease prevention and disaster control in Aboriginal villages located in mountainous areas and on offshore islands. The Department of Health has been sponsoring the program since 2005 and has trained 668 elementary-school students from Aboriginal communities to deliver the message and the acquired health knowledge back to their communities, department official Lin Szu-hai (林四海) said.
Staff writer, with CNA
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
RSS