With everyone’s eyes on the seven-in-one elections at the end of November, Taiwanese comic book artist Wei Zhong-cheng (韋宗成) has sought to bring a light touch to the potentially intense political event in his new work.
In Wei’s new comic, titled The Battle of the Six Special Municipalities (六都爭霸), the five special municipalities and Taoyuan County, which is due to be upgraded to a special municipality on Dec. 25, are each personified by a manga character.
Being Taiwan’s wealthiest administrative region, Taipei is portrayed as a suit-wearing rich boy, while Greater Taichung, which has been notorious for gang-related crime, is represented by a pistol-wielding young female student.
Photo courtesy of Future-Digi Ltd
As a city that takes pride in its rich historical and cultural legacy, Greater Tainan is pictured as a bashful girl clad in a traditional Chinese outfit.
Greater Kaoshiung, which has drawn tourists because of its constant sunny weather, is painted as a spirited and energetic teenage boy.
New Taipei City, which is home to Houtong (猴硐) — a small town nicknamed “Cat Town” due to its large cat population — is a naive cat girl.
Taoyuan, the nation’s biggest Hakka county, is personified as a feisty girl wearing a traditional Hakka costume and a tung blossom — a traditional symbol of Hakka culture — in her hair.
“My new comic book features a number of four-panel comic strips depicting various manga characters that I think best encapsulate the cities’ respective local features and customs and the lifestyles of their people,” Wei said.
Wei said any current events could also become the subjects of his new book, such as the Sunflower student movement in March and the antinuclear movement last month.
“These issues all play a part in the lives of Taipei residents,” Wei said.
Describing himself as a “citizen concerned about his country and his people in a time of social turmoil,” Wei catapulted to fame in the comic art community about five years ago after the huge hit of his first book, The Arrival of Emperor Ma (馬皇降臨), a political satire manga that mocks President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and other political heavyweights.
The 32-year-old’s subsequent works, such as The Battle of the Five Special Municipalities (五都爭霸) and Taiwan National Army Act Corporation (新世紀國軍戰士), are also bestsellers and have helped him establish a large fan base.
Several incumbent mayors and mayoral hopefuls are also featured in Wei’s work, including National Taiwan University Hospital physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), an independent hopeful for Taipei mayor, and former Taipei Easycard Corp president Sean Lien (連勝文), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate.
Nevertheless, Wei said his goal is to bring out the cultural differences between the special municipalities, rather than drawing attention to the political figures.
“I want my readers to understand the differences between Greater Kaohsiung and Greater Tainan food, as well as Taipei residents’ favorite cuisines and pastimes,” Wei said.
“The stars in my book are the six special municipalities and the politicians are often depicted as needing to bring on their A-games to gain people’s support,” he said.
Wei’s new comic work is to be released in stages on his Facebook starting in the coming weeks, with a full version available on the market at the end of this year.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS