CULTURE
Taiwan band comes second
A marching band consisting of high-school students from Taipei won second place at the World Association of Marching Show Bands 2023 World Championships in West Virginia, US on Saturday and picked up numerous accolades. The sole team from Taiwan was comprised of 70 band members, with 44 of the students from Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School and the remainder from other high schools in Taipei. The team advanced to the final on Saturday after succeeding in the preliminary round on Friday, along with other nine teams. In the final, the team scored 95.861 points, putting them in second place, one point behind the winning Canadian team, the band’s parent support group said. The Taiwanese team also received a “Gold with Honors” award the group said, adding that the band also won the “Street Parade” and “Best Auxiliary” categories.
POLITICS
French delegation in Taiwan
A parliamentary group led by French Senator Andre Gattolin arrived in Taiwan for a five-day visit yesterday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The visit by Gattolin, vice-chairman of the French Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and the Armed Forces, is expected to enhance bilateral ties between the two countries, the ministry said. Gattolin also chairs the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international cross-party coalition of over 100 parliamentarians from the world’s democratic legislatures which is focused on creating a coordinated response to China on global security, human rights and trade issues. The delegation is the third group of French lawmakers to visit Taiwan this year.
BUSINESS
Klook adds night market
A digital pass for Taipei’s Ningxia Night Market has been rolled out by Klook, a Hong Kong-based travel booking platform, in collaboration with the night market. The pass allows customers to choose four to eight dishes from 25 stalls at Ningxia Night Market, one of the most popular night markets in Taiwan, and receive a discount of up to 47 percent, the platform’s website said. Anyone with a digital pass needs to show it to the vendor and can pre-order food to minimize the time spent waiting, the company said. The pass can be purchased via Klook’s app and has to be activated within 30 days of being bought, the Web site said. Klook is also looking to expand this collaboration model to other business locations in Taiwan, the platform noted.
ARTS
Art festival in Miaoli
Thirty art installations by various artists are being displayed at the ongoing Miaoli Coastal Land Art Festival, with an on-site sand sculpture also featured, Miaoli County’s Culture and Tourism Bureau said. The on-site sand sculpture Listening to the Sea was created by renowned Japanese sand artist Yoshiko Matsugi, who was invited to create the signature piece for this year’s festival, the bureau said. The land art festival was first held in 2021 by the bureau along with the Tongsiao Power Plant run by Taiwan Power Co to promote tourism in the northern county’s Tongsiao (通宵) and Yuanli (苑裡) townships, which have rich marine resources, it said. The festival is being held from July 8 to Aug. 27. Bureau head Lin Yen-fu (林彥甫) said he hopes displaying works by different artists can generate a broader dialogue on the creation of arts and crafts, and help boost tourism in the county’s coastal areas.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
RSS