About 7,000 people on Saturday evening attended a Double Ten National Day event at Arizona State University (ASU) in Phoenix.
The free event offered Taiwanese delicacies, a night market with craft vendors, children's activities and live performances.
Phoenix and Taipei have been sister cities for 46 years.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles
About 30,000 Taiwanese live in the US city, which is also home to more than 40 Taiwanese companies and more than 500 Taiwanese students.
The celebration was organized in partnership with Phoenix Sister Cities and Taipei Sister Cities, as well as Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Vice Mayor Ann O’Brien.
The highlight of the event was a drone show sponsored by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), with 150 colored drones lighting up the sky to form the Taiwan flag, the Chinese characters for Taiwan, and motifs including Taipei 101 and a Formosan black bear, staged to the song Far Away (千里之外) by Jay Chou (周杰倫) featuring Fei Yu-ching (費玉清).
Phoenix has hosted Double Ten National Day celebrations at ASU for the past four years.
More than 1,000 TSMC employees and their families were in attendance.
Gallego spoke of the strong bond between Phoenix and Taiwan, saying she hopes that through the celebration, “our friends from Taiwan will feel at home, and that those who are only just learning about Taiwan feel as moved as I do.”
China Airlines and Starlux this year announced direct flights between Phoenix and Taipei, the city’s first non-stop route to Asia, she said.
From bubble tea shops to soup dumplings, and from healthcare to the semiconductor industry, the relationship between the two cities boosts the local economy and makes Phoenix stronger, she added.
“I proudly stand with the people of Taiwan. Tonight is about friendship, community and cultural exchange,” O’Brien said.
Taiwan’s story is one of resilience and innovation, as Taiwan currently ranks as the sixth most-competitive nation worldwide, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles political section head Fang Chung-yu (方崇宇) said.
This showcases Taiwan’s strength despite global supply chain issues and mounting geopolitical pressure, Fang added.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS