CULTURE
Museum ethics scrutinized
This year’s Taiwan International Human Rights Film Festival, which begins on Friday, aims to explore the ethical questions surrounding the ownership of museum collections, the organizers said. Under the themes “Whose Museum?” and “Human Rights Panorama,” the National Human Rights Museum (NHRM) has curated screenings of 11 films highlighting the educational role of museums and the political conflicts over appropriated cultural artifacts. One of the festival’s more topical inclusions is Dutch director Oeke Hoogendijk’s The Treasures of Crimea, which documents the geopolitical wrangling over a collection of historical artifacts from Ukraine stranded in an Amsterdam museum following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Admission is free, with ticket information available on the festival’s Web site. An online version of the festival is also to be held from Monday next week to Oct. 10.
DEFENSE
Uncrewed plane appears
Two Chinese aircraft flew into the southwestern part of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone on Saturday, one of which was a Rainbow CH-4 remote-controlled combat aerial vehicle, reportedly detected by Taiwan for the first time. Developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology, the CH-4 has a cruising speed of up to 180kph and a flight range of 3,500km. The other was a Y8 anti-submarine warplane, the Ministry of National Defense said. The two aircraft were among 20 Chinese aircraft and five naval ships detected in Taiwan’s vicinity on Saturday, the ministry said, adding that it scrambled combat air and naval patrols, and deployed defense missile systems in response. The ministry did not disclose the flight paths of the other 18 aircraft or the locations of the naval vessels.
TRAVEL
Island cruises proposed
Taiwan is working with international partners to develop pan-Asian island-hopping cruise vacations to revive the travel market, Ministry of Transportation and Communications Deputy Minister Chi Wen-chung (祁文中) said. At a cruise industry forum on Tuesday last week, Chi said that Taiwan is eyeing the formation of an “Asian archipelago cruise alliance” to organize routes along the East Asian island chain between South Korea and Indonesia. The ministry recently upgraded tourist center facilities and streamlined disease control measures at ports in Keelung and Kaohsiung, he said. Taiwan has been the second-largest cruise market in Asia, with about 1.06 million international travelers from 600 cruise ships arriving each year before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
TRAVEL
CAL opens Cebu, Thai routes
China Airlines (CAL) announced last week that it would soon launch direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Cebu in the Philippines and Chiang Mai in Thailand. The Taiwanese carrier said flights to Cebu, the second-largest city in the Philippines, would depart four days a week starting Dec. 1. The flights, which are to use an Airbus A321neo, are slated to depart at 7:40am. and arrive in Cebu at 10:35am, with return flights departing the Philippines at 11:35am, CAL said. Flights to Chiang Mai are set to begin on Jan. 20 on an A321neo, departing at 7:50am four days a week, arriving at 11am and departing Thailand at noon.
A Keelung high school on Saturday night apologized for using a picture containing a Chinese flag on the cover of the senior yearbook, adding that it has recalled the books and pledged to provide students new ones before graduation on Thursday. Of 309 Affiliated Keelung Maritime Senior High School of National Taiwan Ocean University graduates, 248 had purchased the yearbook. Some students said that the printer committed an outrageous error in including the picture, while others said that nobody would notice such a small flag on the cover. Other students said that they cared more about the photographs of classmates and what was
GOING INTERNATIONAL: Rakuten Girls squad leader Ula Shen said she was surprised that baseball fans outside of Taiwan not only knew of them, but also knew their names Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Oakland Athletics on Saturday hosted its first Taiwanese Heritage Day event at the Oakland Coliseum with a performance by Taiwanese cheerleading squad the Rakuten Girls and a video message from Vice President William Lai (賴清德). The Rakuten Girls, who are the cheerleaders for the CPBL’s Rakuten Monkeys, performed in front of a crowd of more than 2,000 people, followed by a prerecorded address by Lai about Taiwan’s baseball culture and democratic spirit. Taiwanese pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸), who was signed by the Athletics earlier this year, was also present. Mizuki Lin (林襄), considered a “baseball cheerleading goddess” by Taiwanese
WAY OF THE RUKAI: ‘Values deemed worthy often exist amid discomfort, so when people go against the flow, nature becomes entwined with our lives,’ a student said “Run, don’t walk” after your dreams, Nvidia cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) told National Taiwan University (NTU) graduates yesterday, as several major universities held in-person graduation ceremonies for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. “What will you create? Whatever it is, run after it. Run, don’t walk. Remember, either you’re running for food, or you are running from becoming food. Oftentimes, you can’t tell which. Either way, run,” he said. Huang was one of several tech executives addressing graduating students at Taiwanese universities. National Chengchi University held two ceremonies, with alumnus Patrick Pan (潘先國), who is head of Taiwan
A 14-legged giant isopod is the highlight of a new dish at a ramen restaurant in Taipei and it has people lining up — both for pictures and for a bite from this bowl of noodles. Since “The Ramen Boy” launched the limited-edition noodle bowl on Monday last week, declaring in a social media post that it had “finally got this dream ingredient,” more than 100 people have joined a waiting list to dine at the restaurant. “It is so attractive because of its appearance — it looks very cute,” said the 37-year-old owner of the restaurant, who wanted to be
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