Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city.
The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago.
The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group.
Photo courtesy of Live Nation Taiwan
To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up store that opened on Saturday and runs through Sunday at the Eslite Spectrum Fashion Square, offering limited-edition items and special perks, Chen wrote on Facebook.
It is also lighting up Kaohsiung with the “Tour Visual Blue” light show promoting the “Twice World Tour” across the city, he said.
The city government hosted a similar event, with pink lights, when K-pop girl group Blackpink played in the city last month.
Photo courtesy of the Kaohsiung City Department of Transportation
The “Tour Visual Blue” light show, which began yesterday, is to run through Saturday every evening from 5:30pm to 11pm at seven landmarks, including the Great Harbor Bridge (大港橋), Weiwuying National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, Exit 1 of the Central Park MRT Station, the Kaohsiung Pop Music Center, Love River (愛河), Kaohsiung Port Travel Center and Formosa Boulevard MRT Station, Chen said.
From yesterday through Saturday, some traffic lights in Kaohsiung would remind people to “Look Twice” and “Twice 2025 Kaohsiung,” he said.
The voices of Twice members would also encourage fans to take public transportation in announcements across the Kaohsiung MRT system, starting from tomorrow to Saturday, Chen said.
The mayor also changed his hair to blue in his social media profile, similar to when he changed it to pink when Blackpink was in Kaohsiung.
LOW RISK: Most nations do not extradite people accused of political crimes, and the UN says extradition can only happen if the act is a crime in both countries, an official said China yesterday issued wanted notices for two Taiwanese influencers, accusing them of committing “separatist acts” by criticizing Beijing, amid broadening concerns over China’s state-directed transnational repression. The Quanzhou Public Security Bureau in a notice posted online said police are offering a reward of up to 25,000 yuan (US$3,523) for information that could contribute to the investigation or apprehension of pro-Taiwanese independence YouTuber Wen Tzu-yu (溫子渝),who is known as Pa Chiung (八炯) online, and rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源). Wen and Chen are suspected of spreading content that supported secession from China, slandered Chinese policies that benefit Taiwanese and discrimination against Chinese spouses of
PROMOTION: Travelers who want a free stopover must book their flights with designated travel agents, such as Lion Travel, Holiday Tours, Cola Tour and Life Tours Air Canada yesterday said it is offering Taiwanese travelers who are headed to North America free stopovers if they transit though airports in Japan and South Korea. The promotion was launched in response to a potential rise in demand for flights to North America in June and July next year, when the US, Canada and Mexico are scheduled to jointly host the FIFA World Cup, Air Canada said. Air Canada offers services to 13 of the 16 host cities of the tournament’s soccer games, including Toronto and Vancouver; Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey in Mexico; Atlanta, Georgia; Boston; Dallas; Houston;
The US approved the possible sale to Taiwan of fighter jet spare and repair parts for US$330 million, the Pentagon said late yesterday, marking the first such potential transaction since US President Donald Trump took office in January. "The proposed sale will improve the recipient's capability to meet current and future threats by maintaining the operational readiness of the recipient's fleet of F-16, C-130," and other aircraft, the Pentagon said in a statement. Trump previously said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has told him he would not invade Taiwan while the Republican leader is in office. The announcement of the possible arms
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,