The Taiwanese TV series The New World (新世界) will soon be broadcast in several countries, including some of the nation’s diplomatic allies, in an effort to expand Taiwan’s soft power, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
Henry Chen (陳銘政), head of the ministry’s Department of International Information Services, said the series is being dubbed in Spanish and English in preparation for broadcast in parts of Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the US.
Airing the TV drama in other countries should help promote Taiwan’s culture and soft power, in line with the ongoing efforts of MOFA and the Ministry of Culture, Chen told a news conference.
Photo: CNA
Starring Mini Tsai (蔡黃汝) and Chang Ting-hu (張庭瑚), The New World is about the reunion of four childhood friends who grew up in the same village, but drifted apart over time. It has elements of suspense, crime and romance.
Such stories can find a place outside Taiwan, said Jasmine Huggins, the ambassador to Taiwan of Saint Kitts and Nevis, one of the English-speaking countries in which the series will be aired.
A quality series with a powerful narrative, The New World can help foreign viewers understand the culture of Taiwan and experience its beauty, Huggins said at the news conference.
The 2015 series is to be broadcast on 21 TV networks in 16 nations, including the Philippines and Indonesia, which are listed in the government’s New Southbound Policy, MOFA said.
Outside Asia, the TV drama is to be aired in Los Angeles, Belize, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, four of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in the Caribbean.
It will also be broadcast in the nation’s allied Latin American countries of Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras, as well as in Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador.
Since 2014, MOFA and the Ministry of Culture have launched three similar initiatives.
In 2014, they organized the broadcast of the 2010 Taiwanese TV drama The Fierce Wife (犀利人妻) on 10 TV networks in eight Latin American countries.
The following year, the 2014 Taiwanese romance drama The Way We Were (16個夏天) also aired in Latin America, and last year A Good Wife (親愛的，我愛上別人了) was broadcast in most of the same countries.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS