ENTERTAINMENT
Film screenings announced
Mongrel (白衣蒼狗), an award-winning movie on the life of migrant workers working illegally as caregivers in Taiwan, is to start a limited run in Kaohsiung on June 27. The first two theaters on the screening tour are Vieshow Cinema in the FE21 Mega shopping mall and in89 Cinema at the Pier-2 Art Center, with subsequent screenings to be announced. The movie earned a Golden Camera Special Mention Award in the category dedicated to first feature films at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. “It’s not a film that caters to mainstream tastes and it’s not a successful art film. I did what I could, that’s all,” said Singaporean director Chiang Wei-liang (曾威量), who codirected the film with Taiwanese director Yin You-qiao (尹又巧).
Photo courtesy of Activator Co
AIRLINES
CAL flight to be probed
The South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport yesterday said that it would launch an investigation into a China Airlines (CAL) flight that failed to follow air traffic control instructions and landed on the wrong runway at Busan’s Gimhae International Airport, classifying the case as a “quasi-accident.” Although Thursday’s incident involving Flight CI186 from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport caused no damage or injuries, it met the criteria for a serious incident under aviation safety regulations, the ministry said. The ministry said that its Korea Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board would lead the probe. The incident was first brought to public attention by Taiwanese aerospace YouTuber and former pilot James Wang (王天傑), who said during a livestream that the CAL aircraft had landed on the incorrect runway. The Transportation Safety Board earlier said that it would support the South Korean investigation if requested and is prepared to take over should the South Korean authorities opt not to proceed with their own probe. CAL has launched an internal investigation.
CRIME
Fraud suspects arrested
Six people who set up a fan page that purported to belong to Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) have been arrested for alleged investment fraud, the New Taipei City Police Department Criminal Investigation Corps said on Wednesday. The operation allegedly defrauded more than NT$13 million (US$438,183) from more than 100 people, police said. The suspects operated what they presented as a digital technology marketing company, with a manager surnamed Lee (李) and five others, police said, adding that the fake fan page lured people into joining Line groups by claiming to offer stock analysis and investment tips from Huang, but led to fake investment Web sites.
CULTURE
Diving event announced
The Ministry of Culture has scheduled two events in the middle of August as it introduces Protected Wreck Days to raise public awareness of underwater cultural heritage. In collaboration with National Tsing Hua University, the ministry said that it would hold a three-day scuba diving event from Aug. 15 to 17, focusing on “Jiangjun No. 1” (將軍1號), a shipwreck discovered near Penghu County in 1995. There is also a one-day seminar on Aug. 15. The Jiangjun No. 1, near Jiangjun Islet in Penghu County, is believed to have been a wooden vessel carrying building materials and ceramic goods, the Bureau of Cultural Heritage said. The three-day diving event has 20 spots available for applicants holding a Divemaster certificate or higher.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today. The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system. MOFA last week
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
RSS