SOCIETY
Chi Mei founder Hsu dies
Chi Mei Group founder Hsu Wen-lung (許文龍) passed away in hospital yesterday morning at the age of 95. Born in Tainan in 1928, Hsu founded Chi Mei Corp, the Chi Mei Hospital and the Chimei Museum, and dedicated his life to social welfare and promoting the arts. Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) yesterday relayed President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) condolences to Hsu’s family. Hsu was well known in the international community and his Chimei Corp has been praised as a company that brings others happiness, Lin quoted Tsai as saying. Since his retirement, Hsu dedicated his time and energy to social welfare and the promotion of Taiwan’s arts and humanities, Lin said, adding that Hsu’s dedication to promoting local culture was commendable. Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) said that Hsu’s passing was a significant loss for residents of the city, and that his dedication and contributions to Taiwanese culture, art and democracy were irreplaceable and would never be forgotten. A number of politicians, including Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential candidate, and Taiwan People’s Party Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), also expressed their condolences.
SOCIETY
Cartoonist Loic Hsiao dies
Artist Loic Hsiao (蕭言中), who was best known for his cartoons and his work as a theater director and TV host, died yesterday at the age of 58. Born in Nantou County in 1965, Hsiao had dreamed of becoming a cartoonist since he was young and studied at Fu-hsin Trade and Arts School’s Department of Arts and Crafts. In 1985, he published his first comic, Fairy Tales Untold (童話短路), and was propelled into the limelight, widely considered to be one of Taiwan’s four best cartoonists, along with Ao Yu-hsiang (敖幼祥), Chu Te-yung (朱德庸) and Tsai Chih-chung (蔡志忠). Hsiao had said that after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2019, he wanted his legacy to be his art and that he had always dreamed of creating a “cartoon city” to demonstrate to the public how cartoons can be meaningful works of art. He developed a unique painting method using simple strokes and in 2020 organized art exhibitions in Hualien and Paris, the event in the French capital prompting French President Emmanuel Macron to send Hsiao a letter of blessing.
SOCIETY
Zoo to remember panda
Taipei Zoo is to hold a commemorative event today to mark the anniversary of giant panda Tuan Tuan’s (團團) death, the zoo said in a statement on Friday. Zoo director Chen I-tsung (諶亦聰) said that a video featuring Tuan Tuan and other pandas would be played from 10am to 3pm. Visitors are also invited to write blessing cards to mark the date. The 18-year-old giant panda died from gemistocytic astrocytoma on Nov. 19, Chen said. The zoo said that it had preserved Tuan Tuan’s bones and fur, and frozen its sperm and fibroblasts after its death. It said that it was in the process of registering taxidermist Lin Wen-lung’s (林文龍) work on Tuan Tuan’s remains in accordance with the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法). It planned to open an exhibition highlighting endangered species, such as giant pandas, as well as gorillas and pangolins, in the first half of next year, the zoo added. Tuan Tuan’s unique physiology and scientific research materials would one day feature in a themed building for use by researchers and educators, Chen said.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a military conflict with China, including building up asymmetric defense capabilities and fortifying public resilience, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said in a recent interview. “Everything we are doing is to prevent a conflict from happening, whether it is 2027 or before that or beyond that,” Hsiao told American podcaster Shawn Ryan of the Shawn Ryan Show. She was referring to a timeline cited by several US military and intelligence officials, who said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take military action against Taiwan
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