Taiwanese director Chen Wei-ling (陳慧翎), a multiple Golden Bell Award winner, died on Wednesday at the age of 48, a close friend of hers said.
Sarso Chou (周銓), a producer who had known Chen for nearly 15 years, told CNA on Wednesday that the director had passed away peacefully at Taipei Municipal Wanfang Hospital earlier in the day, with her mother and close friends at her side.
Chen was the director of several popular television series in Taiwan, including Year of the Rain (那年,雨不停國), Autumn’s Concerto (下一站,幸福) and Material Queen (拜金女王).
Photo: Pan Shao-tang, Taipei Times
Between 2008 and 2019, she won several Golden Bell awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Editing.
One of her recent series, Mom, Don’t Do That! (媽,別鬧了!) was streamed on Netflix last year. It tells the story of a 60-year-old mother who decides to find love again after her husband’s death, to the joy and annoyance of her two daughters.
In 2013, Chen was diagnosed with cervical cancer and had been hospitalized multiple times since, but she continued her work as a filmmaker.
Chou, Chen’s long-standing friend, said they had worked together on multiple projects over the years.
Prior to Chen’s death, they had been planning two new projects, one of which would tell the story of Chen’s mother, Chou said, adding that he would strive to help complete those films.
“Some people say we had a ‘twin flame’ relationship that went beyond soulmates,” he said, expressing grief at the loss of his dear friend.
Many loved ones were at Chen’s side when she passed away, Chou said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to