Former Hong Kong legislator Tanya Chan (陳淑莊), who has been living in Taiwan for three years, has become the head chef of a new Taipei restaurant, following her suspended sentence in 2019 for her role in the 2014 Umbrella movement.
On Friday night, Chan wrote in English and Chinese on the Facebook account of the soon-to-open restaurant Red Cotton (紅棉) about her experience living in Taiwan and what motivated her to become a chef.
As a lawmaker in Hong Kong, she said she lacked the time to cook for herself, and often ate at the home of her friend, Danny Yip (葉一南), who owns the Michelin-starred restaurant The Chairman.
Photo: Screen grab from Red Cotton’s Facebook page
“Perhaps I was so well fed that after moving to Taiwan, alone, what I missed most was the flavors of Hong Kong,” she wrote.
One day while talking on the phone with Yip’s wife, who she identified only as “Mrs Yip,” she told her how much she missed their food, Chan said.
Mrs Yip told her it was time for her to cook for herself, saying that “as long as you are passionate and devoted to food, and willing to work hard, anyone can be a chef,” she said.
After three years of hard work and with her “fingers covered in cuts,” she became the head chef of Red Cotton, she said.
The restaurant in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) would begin accepting reservations on Oct. 14 for dates after Nov. 14, the post said.
The restaurant has gained more than 12,000 followers on Facebook, and her post has more than 13,000 likes.
Chan was a legislator in Hong Kong from 2008 to 2012 and again from 2016 to 2020. She was also a founding member of the territory’s Civic Party.
She was arrested and later put on trial for inciting a “public nuisance” during the 2014 pro-democracy protests, becoming one of a group of defendants known as the “Occupy Nine.”
After undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, Chan in June 2019 received an eight-month sentence, which was suspended for two years.
She announced her withdrawal from politics in 2020. In 2021, media outlets reported that she had moved to Taiwan.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS