The Taoyuan City Government, co-organizer of this year’s Taiwan Lantern Festival, on Sunday announced that the event would highlight the city’s rich cultural diversity and ethnic heritage alongside its signature lantern displays.
From Wednesday next week to Feb. 23, the festival would feature daily themed performances — excluding the opening and closing days — celebrating Taoyuan’s fusion of tradition and modern culture, the city government said in a news release.
With more than 80 performances planned, the festival would showcase Minnan, Hakka, indigenous and new immigrant cultures, as well as international acts from Japan, France and the Philippines, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Taoyuan Department of Cultural Affairs
The lineup also includes orchestral music, traditional arts, sports demonstrations, folk performances and global artistic showcases, it added.
A parade would be held on the opening day at 1:30pm in front of the Taoyuan HSR Station (A18) featuring 19 performance groups, including the Philippine dance troupe Bailes de Luces and Kaohsiung-based Gift Box Theater, it said.
The festival, which is in its 36th year, is being held in Taoyuan for the first time in nine years. It is co-organized by the city government and the Tourism Administration.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS