President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday unveiled a suite in the century-old Presidential Office compound where 18 foreign contestants in a video blogging competition held by the government to promote Taiwan internationally won a turn to stay overnight.
Tsai, in a recorded video on Facebook, gave a tour of the suite in the Lixing Building, a two-story structure in the Presidential Office compound, highlighting the local decor and furnishings.
“Our goal is simple. We want the guests to enjoy the most welcoming, authentic Taiwanese ambience during their stay,” Tsai said in the two-and-a-half-minute video.
The first occupant of the suite was Kim Juh-yeok, a South Korean travel photographer and blogger, who stayed overnight yesterday.
The other 17 winners are to take turns staying in the suite over the next three months, which is the major part of their prize. They are also to be given a guided tour of the Presidential Office Building and invited to attend the morning flag-raising ceremony on the compound.
Most of the winners are vloggers who are famous in their home countries, Tsai said, adding that they could help promote Taiwan internationally because of their popularity on social media.
The winners come from Israel, Hungary, Germany, Thailand, France, Poland, Canada, Japan, South Korea, India and the US, the Presidential Office said.
In the competition, the contestants were required to upload a video clip of up to 90 seconds explaining why they were best suited to promote Taiwan abroad.
From the 167 submissions received by Aug. 31, the judges selected 18 winners.
The competition was part of ongoing celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of the historic Presidential Office Building.
The complex was built in 1919 during the Japanese colonial period. It first served as the office of the governor-general of Taiwan, before becoming the Presidential Office in 1950.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
RSS