ENTERTAINMENT
Film to be shown in park
An event inspired by the crying scene in Vive L’Amour (愛情萬歲), a film by Taiwan-based Malaysian director Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮), is to be held at Daan Park in Taipei on New Year’s Eve to mark the 30th anniversary of the award-winning movie. Tsai’s two-hour drama ends with the main actress, Yang Kuei-mei (楊貴媚), walking to Daan Park, which was then still under construction, and bursting into tears in the early hours of New Year’s Day after a series of unfortunate events. The scene, which lasts nearly seven minutes, has become an iconic moment for many film enthusiasts. Tsai also won the Gold Lion — the top prize at the Venice Film Festival in Italy — for the film in 1994. The event would begin with a screening of the movie at the park’s outdoor stage at 9:45pm on Dec. 31, followed by a countdown to next year with Tsai, Yang and actor Lee Kang-sheng (李康生), the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI) said. It would be free of charge and the movie would have Chinese and English subtitles.
CHIAYI
One dead in site collapse
One person died and four were injured when a 3m-high walkway to a scenic platform collapsed in Chiayi County on Wednesday. They fell when the wooden sightseeing platform they were standing on gave way near Fumei Suspension Bridge in Alishan, the Chiayi County Fire Bureau said. A 76-year-old woman, surnamed Liao (廖), died due to a head injury, while the others are in a stable condition following treatment at hospitals, the fire bureau said. The five people were part of a larger 44-person tour group from Miaoli County, a tour group member said. They had been admiring the picturesque surroundings while standing on the walkway when it “suddenly fractured and collapsed,” the witness said. Authorities are investigating the cause of the incident. The tourist site is managed and maintained by Alishan Township.
SOCIETY
Woman dies in detention
Prosecutors are investigating the cause of death of an Indonesian woman at the National Immigration Agency’s (NIA) detention center in Yilan County on Monday. Her roommate found her in bed without vital signs and alerted the detention center’s personnel to seek medical assistance, the NIA said, adding that the woman was rushed to a hospital, but efforts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful. Detainees at the center are primarily migrant workers who have overstayed their visa or people who have lost contact with their employers or other connections. The woman entered the detention center on Oct. 21 and began displaying symptoms such as coughing on Thursday last week. She was taken to see a doctor on the same day, and the center had continued monitoring her condition until Monday.
FOOD
Pizza prices to rise
Pizza Hut on Thursday said that the price of eight of its pizzas are to increase by between NT$5 and NT$40, or an average of 2.5 percent, effective immediately. Global inflation has led to fluctuations in the cost of raw materials, food ingredients, human resources and electricity, it said. Therefore, prices have been adjusted to ensure the high quality of its products and services, it added. Meanwhile, prices for three small pizzas are to decrease by NT$30, or 7.5 percent.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
MILITARY EXERCISES: China is expected to conduct more drills in the region after President William Lai’s office announced he would stopover in Hawaii and Guam China is likely to launch military drills in the coming days near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming trip to the Pacific and scheduled US transit as a pretext, regional security officials said. Lai is to begin a visit to Taipei’s three diplomatic allies in the Pacific on Saturday, and sources told Reuters he was planning stops in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam in a sensitive trip shortly after the US presidential election. Lai’s office has yet to confirm details of what are officially “stop-overs” in the US, but is expected to do so shortly before he departs, sources
Tasa Meng Corp (采盟), which runs Taiwan Duty Free, could be fined up to NT$1 million (US$30,737) after the owner and employees took center stage in a photograph with government officials and the returning Premier12 baseball champions at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Monday evening. When Taiwan’s national baseball team arrived home fresh from their World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 championship victory in Tokyo, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) was at the airport with Chinese Professional Baseball League commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) to welcome back the team. However, after Hsiao and Tsai took a photograph with the team, Tasa Meng chairwoman Ku
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