CHARITY
Sichuan aid helps 1.5m
The nation’s aid to the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China has benefited 1.5 million people, the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China said. Yesterday marked the sixth anniversary of the magnitude 7.9 quake, which struck Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008, killing more than 69,000 people and leaving more than 18,000 missing. Over the past six years, the Red Cross Society has helped build 43 schools, 43 health centers and one rehabilitation center for the disabled in disaster zones in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, assisting 1.5 million residents, including 32,600 students, Red Cross chairwoman Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) said. The charity said it hoped to complete all post-quake reconstruction works by next year.
CULTURE
Super Slippa to host 36 acts
A total of 36 singers and bands will take the stage in Taipei this summer at an annual music festival that opens on July 4. The musicians will take turns performing on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at the Summer Super Slippa, which will be held from July 4 to Aug. 31, organizers B’in Music Co said. Singers Richie Jen (任賢齊), Aboriginal a cappella group The O-Kai Singers, electronic band Lie Gramophone and rock bands Magic Power, My Skin Against Your Skin and Monkey Pilot are among the performers scheduled to take the stage. Every Wednesday, the festival will also feature performances by new artists and bands, B’in Music said. The festival will climax on Aug. 23 with a concert at Taipei Arena by bands Mayday (五月天), Mary See the Future and Hush, singers Crowd Lu (盧廣仲), Lala Hsu (徐佳瑩) and Hong Kong musician Paul Wong (黃貫中). The festival will take place at the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park.
CHARITY
Lottos post NT$5.5bn surplus
Public welfare lotteries generated a surplus of NT$5.51 billion (US$182.6 million) in the first quarter of the year, data released by Taiwan Lottery Co showed. That includes a surplus of NT$1.57 billion generated in March alone, said the company, a subsidiary of CTBC Holding Co that has been commissioned to operate the lotteries. The March surplus was distributed to the municipal governments of Taipei, New Taipei City, Greater Taichung, Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung, to social welfare programs run by other city and county governments, to the National Pension Fund, and to the reserve fund for the national health insurance system. Surpluses generated by public welfare lottery sales are allocated to social welfare programs and the national pension and health systems.
SOCIETY
Boat show attracts 70,000
The four-day Taiwan International Boat Show concluded on Sunday, attracting more than 70,000 visitors and selling 32 yachts worth NT$1 billion, the Greater Kaohsiung Government said. About 26,000 visitors, including 2,500 buyers from China, the US, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, visited the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center on the show’s final day, said Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆), head of the city’s Marine Bureau. Lai expected the show to give a boost to related businesses, including boat manufacturers, yacht hardware makers and boat maintenance providers. He said that a US$1 investment in the yacht industry could create US$10 worth of business opportunities. The Greater Kaohsiung government is working on the creation of an industrial park dedicated to yacht manufacturing and the development of the marine recreation there, Lai said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by