Television stations in four Asian countries are to air tailor-made TV programs next month that are being coproduced by the Taiwanese government to promote Taiwan and people-to-people ties, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Tuesday.
The Embracing Taiwan project is produced by the ministry in cooperation with TV stations in the Philippines, Vietnam, India and Thailand, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Tsao (曹立傑) said.
“The project uses a fresh approach that takes into account the cultural traits and preferences of local audiences, and will be broadcast in their own language to foster a better understanding of Taiwan,” he said.
The four production partners are CNN Philippines, Ho Chi Minh City Television, India’s Zee TV and Thailand’s Channel 5. All the program hosts who took part in the shooting attended the launch event.
“There are so many ways to fall in love with Taiwan,” said Valerie Tan (陳玉雲), CNN Philippines’ lifestyle magazine show host, who shot the Philippine edition over five days last month.
Tan, who 10 years ago studied Chinese in Taipei and has since then visited Taiwan several times, said that she is very familiar with Taiwan and loves the food, the cleanliness and especially the friendliness of the people.
“Filipinos only know Taipei, but there is also Tainan, Taichung and Kaohsiung. We want Filipinos to visit other parts of Taiwan,” she said.
Although the TV programs are all produced to tout Taiwan’s accomplishments to its 18 New Southbound Policy partner countries, their content varies according to the tastes of each country, the ministry said in a news release.
For the Philippines, the program highlights Taiwan’s music, culture and friendly people; for Thailand, the focus is on Taiwan’s beauty, inclusiveness and harmony; for Vietnam, Taiwan’s vibrant society and passion for learning are central; and for India, the spotlight is on Taiwan’s diligent and cheerful people, according to the ministry.
“What sets this project apart from previous ones is that we produced them with local partners, in local languages, hoping to reach the grassroots of each country,” ministry director-general Henry Chen (陳銘政) said.
The ministry has previously coproduced similar TV programs with international channels to promote Taiwan, but they have mostly been recorded in English, Chen said.
The 60-minute programs are scheduled to be aired next month in two primetime episodes in their respective countries.
Aside from the varying themes of the programs, common subjects such as Taiwan’s tourism, cuisine, healthcare, biomedicine, smart technology and humanitarian efforts are explored, the ministry said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
RSS