TOURISM
Kimura concludes visit
Japanese actor Takuya Kimura yesterday concluded a four-day visit after completing the shooting of a commercial by the Tourism Bureau at scenic spots in Taipei. The 42-year-old Kimura is one of the nation’s most popular Japanese entertainers and his first public visit attracted thousands of fans. However, unlike his arrival, when a large crowd gathered at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to greet him, only about 40 fans waited at the airport to get a five-second glimpse of the star as he stepped out of a car and made his way to an EVA Air VIP room. The Tourism Bureau invited Kimura to present the unique features of Taiwan in the commercial directed by John Woo (吳宇森), hoping that it would attract more Japanese tourists. Last year, tourist arrivals from Japan reached 1.63 million. The bureau said it expects Kimura’s ad to boost the number to between 1.7 million and 1.75 million this year. The ad is to be screened in Japan in September and October.
ENTERTAINMENT
Daughter born to Jay Chou
Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou (周杰倫) announced late on Monday that his wife, Taiwanese-Australian model and actress Hannah Quinlivan (昆凌), gave birth to a girl by caesarean section. Chou’s announcement was made through his record label JVR Music, but the precise date of the birth has yet to be disclosed. Chou said in the statement that he is extremely happy, but he did not offer any further details about the child, such as her name or weight, saying only that he would provide more information later. Quinlivan’s management firm Breeze Couture said the 21-year-old first-time mother had been transferred to a postpartum care center at an undisclosed location.
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
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
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
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