CULTURE
Chiayi museum to open
The National Palace Museum’s Southern Branch in Chiayi County is to feature 10 exhibitions when it opens to the public on a trial basis on Monday next week. The 10 exhibitions are to showcase a variety of Asian textiles, Buddhist art, Imari porcelain from Japan, South Asian costumes, Asian tea culture, Islamic jades, Goryeo Dynasty Korea ceramics and blue and white porcelain from the Ming Dynasty, the museum said. The exhibitions are also to feature videos that introduce Asian art and Chiayi’s history from prehistoric to modern times. The Chiayi County Government approved the business license of the National Palace Museum Southern Branch on Friday last week, the museum said.
EDUCATION
Students running wild: poll
Unlike their urban counterparts who often have to rush to tutoring centers after school, 36.4 percent of schoolchildren in remote parts of the nation simply wander about after school, according to the results of a survey. The survey, conducted by the Child Welfare League Foundation, found 20.3 percent of families in remote areas do not restrict where their children go when school finishes and 37.2 percent of children who wander about after school have had unfavorable experiences over the past year. The three kinds of disturbing behavior schoolchildren in remote areas most commonly see are fighting, vandalism and bullying. The survey found that 20 percent of children in remote areas are being taken care of by their grandparents, and 15.1 percent are living with relatives while their parents work in cities. While 23.2 percent of the children do not participate in any extracurricular activities or after-school programs, 24.7 percent want to study a skill, but do not have the funds.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about