SOCIETY
Pride theme announced
This year’s Taiwan LGBT Pride parade on Oct. 29 is to focus on celebrating sexual diversity, its organizers said. Now in its 20th year, the annual parade is aimed at encouraging people to embrace their sexual identity, the Taiwan Rainbow Civil Action Association said on Wednesday. Under the theme “An Unlimited Future,” the parade would also highlight the expectations of the LGBT community in Taiwan and celebrate the progress of LGBT rights in the country over the years, the association said. It said that in addition to this year’s pride parade in Taiwan, which is usually the biggest LGBT pride parade in East Asia, it would also hold a series of events to highlight the efforts made every day to be true to oneself. However, the association did not say whether the parade would be a physical event this year. It was held online last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
AGRICULTURE
Rain causes huge damage
Heavy rains in the second of half of last month caused approximately NT$15.14 million (US$515,176) in damage to crops across the country, the Council of Agriculture said. The hardest hit area was Pingtung County, where crop damage was estimated at NT$4.23 million, followed by Taoyuan with losses of NT$2.71 million, the council said, citing data from its Agriculture and Food Agency. Estimated losses were NT$2.65 million in Taichung, NT$2.01 million in Changhua County, NT$1.6 million in Chiayi County and NT$1.23 million in Yunlin County, the council said. The NT$15.14 million damage total was based on rain damage to approximately 405 hectares of crops, 82 hectares of which were not salvageable, it said. Taiwan recorded rainfall of 477.5mm last month.
EDUCATION
Taiwan to host contest
Taiwan has been selected to host the 2025 WorldSkills Asia competition, an international tournament promoting vocational skills education. WorldSkills Asia board member Lin San-quei (林三貴), a former deputy minister of labor, said he received notification on Tuesday that a majority of the group’s members had approved Taiwan’s application to host the event. The competition has been tentatively scheduled for November 2025, Lin said. WorldSkills Asia, a branch of WorldSkills International, held its first competition in Abu Dhabi in 2018. Over the past three years, it has held exhibition events online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The second in-person competition is to take place in Kuala Lumpur next year, while the one in Taiwan would be the third. WorldSkills competitions cover a wide range of categories, including graphic design, vehicle painting, welding and robotics.
CULTURE
Japan awards novelist
Taiwanese novelist Chi Wei-jan (紀蔚然) was on Friday selected from a shortlist of five writers as the winner of a Japanese award for translated mystery fiction with his work Private Eyes (私家偵探). Chi, an emeritus professor who teaches drama and theater at National Taiwan University, said he was thrilled to win the 13th edition of the award, which asked readers, publishers, translators and critics to vote for their favorite translated mysteries published in Japan from Nov. 1, 2020 to Oct. 31 last year. Private Eyes, which focuses on a former professor who becomes a private detective, has enjoyed wide praise in Taiwan since it was first published in 2011. Chi, who published a sequel last year, said he is planning to write a third book in the series in about six months.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
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