The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday released a video to mark the Year of the Ox ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday and highlight Taiwan-US teamwork in fighting COVID-19.
The US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan has the custom each Lunar New Year of releasing a themed video.
The two-minute video posted on Facebook yesterday showed AIT Director Brent Christensen, Deputy Director Raymond Greene, spokeswoman Amanda Mansour and other institute officials writing Chinese characters.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
To underscore the institute’s slogan “Real Friends, Real Progress,” the video showed images of Christensen meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) during the fight against COVID-19.
The video had Hong Kong-born Taiwanese singer Wakin Chau (周華健) singing his song Friends in the background.
The video also showed images of Christensen and Chen meeting with former US secretary of health and human services Alex Azar during his visit to Taiwan in August last year.
An “Easter egg” at the end of the video is when the “I” in “AIT” turns into a symbol of love, a pun on the pronunciation of “love” (ai, 愛) in Chinese.
“We will remember 2020 not only for the challenges and heartbreak brought by the pandemic, but for the profound friendship Taiwan showed the United States during our time of need,” the AIT wrote on Facebook. “We hope the Year of the Ox brings us all health and happiness, prosperity and peace.”
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
RSS