EDUCATION
NGO exchanges return
Two government-sponsored internship programs that were suspended for one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic are accepting applications from executives of local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and students who want to gain experience at overseas NGOs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. One of the programs sends Taiwan-based NGO executives to international organizations to improve their capabilities, the ministry said in a statement. The other allows students aged 18 to 35 who want to learn new skills and broaden their horizons to serve as interns for international NGOs. The NGOs are in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Fiji, France, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Thailand, the UK and the US, the ministry said. The two programs are accepting applications until June 15.
SPORTS
Taiwan wins 17 medals
Taiwanese athletes won 17 medals at the Summer Deaflympics in Caxias do Sul, Brazil: two gold, seven silver and eight bronze. The medal haul tied the nation’s record at the 2017 Deaflympics in Samsun, Turkey, but included two fewer gold medals. Tennis player Lin Chia-wen (林家文) was the national team’s most decorated athlete — competing in three finals and winning one gold and two silver medals. The Taiwanese delegation to Brazil had 79 members, 39 of whom were athletes. The Sports Administration on Wednesday said that some delegation members tested positive for COVID-19. While the delegation was to return to Taiwan tomorrow, it is to remain in Brazil so that those who tested positive can be treated, it said.
SOCIETY
Watch wins UK award
Taiwanese goldsmith Yuyi Cheng (鄭又嶧), a winner of this year’s Goldsmiths’ Craftsmanship and Design Awards in the UK, said he hopes to use his success to promote Taiwanese culture through jewelry design. Cheng, who in February won bronze in the “Make Your Mark” category for 2D design, on Saturday said that he strives to integrate Eastern and Western elements in his pieces, and would continue celebrating Taiwanese culture in his work. Discussing his award-winning pocket watch design — in a category that asked entrants to promote London in the design of jewelry, smallwork or silverware — Cheng said he intends to use the piece to celebrate the new Elizabeth line of the London Underground, the restoration of Big Ben and Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. There were no gold or silver prize winners in Cheng’s category.
TRADE SHOW
Taipei book fair resumes
The annual Taipei International Book Exhibition is to take place from June 2 to 7, despite concerns surrounding COVID-19, the Ministry of Culture said on Friday. After two years without in-person events, the exhibition is to take place at the Taipei World Trade Center, Minister of Culture Minister Lee Yung-te (李永得), adding that the ministry, organizers and publishers had reached a “consensus” to move ahead with the event. However, a ministry survey of local publishers on Wednesday showed that 154 out of the 248 publishers who had registered opposed holding it in person. Deputy Minister of Culture Lee Ching-hwi (李靜慧) said many of those who opposed an in-person event relented, saying that they would participate if enough precautions against COVID-19 were taken.
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody
The US-Japan joint statement released on Friday not mentioning the “one China” policy might be a sign that US President Donald Trump intends to decouple US-China relations from Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said. Following Trump’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday, the US and Japan issued a joint statement where they reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Trump has not personally brought up the “one China” policy in more than a year, National Taiwan University Department of Political Science Associate Professor Chen Shih-min (陳世民)
‘NEVER!’ Taiwan FactCheck Center said it had only received donations from the Open Society Foundations, which supports nonprofits that promote democratic values Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC) has never received any donation from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a cofounder of the organization wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday. The Taipei-based organization was established in 2018 by Taiwan Media Watch Foundation and the Association of Quality Journalism to monitor and verify news and information accuracy. It was officially registered as a foundation in 2021. National Chung Cheng University communications professor Lo Shih-hung (羅世宏), a cofounder and chairman of TFC, was responding to online rumors that the TFC receives funding from the US government’s humanitarian assistance agency via the Open Society Foundations (OSF),
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT