Taiwan cinema is thriving 10 years on from the release of the blockbusting comedy.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/06/07
By: By Ting-Ying Lin, Taiwan Insight

I can still vividly remember the scene back in the summer of 2008: I spent a typical summer afternoon at the cinema and I was squeezed in with lots of people at the ticket counter in one of the local cinemas in Ximending in order to grab a ticket for the hit film Cape No. 7 (海角七號).

When watching this film with other passionate audiences, I could hear them all laughing together while they felt touched by certain points in the film. People were so obsessed with that film and some of them even watched it over and over again. During that summer, the phenomenon of “Cape No. 7 fever” appeared and almost everyone I knew in Taiwan knew about or had watched it. Cape No. 7 finally became a blockbuster and made NT$530 million (US$17.6 million) at the box office, breaking the record for a domestic film.

Ten years later, 2018 marks the 10th anniversary of the release of Wei Te-sheng’s (魏德聖) pioneering film.    [FULL  STORY]

A female military officer shined on the third day of Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang drills on Thursday as she led a tank platoon to engage in a life-fire anti-landing drill on Taiwan’s outlying island of Kinmen

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/06/07
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—A female military officer shined on the third day of Taiwan’s

annual Han Kuang drills on Thursday as she led a tank platoon to engage in a life-fire anti-landing drill on Taiwan’s outlying island of Kinmen.

Ho Wen-qian (何玟蒨), the first female officer in the tank force of the Kinmen Defense Command, participated in the anti-landing drill at the beach on Liaolo Bay. The drill simulated making a counterattack on the enemy’s amphibious landing. Upon receiving an order to make an immediate counterattack, the defense command’s tank battalion set out to fire with quick action and imposing manner.

Ho, who is from Taichung City, was leading her tank platoon in the drill with composure and coordinated well with her comrades, reports said.

During Thursday’s drill, several battlefield scenarios were simulated, including close contact with the enemy, passing through narrow passages, encountering attacks from enemy armed helicopters, and charging, in order to test the country’s tank force and its fighting capability, reports said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/06/07
By: Lee Chin-wei and S.C. Chang

Taipei, June 7 (CNA) Renowned Taiwan sports anchor Fu Da-ren (傅達仁), who has been

suffering from terminal pancreatic cancer for two years, passed away in Switzerland Thursday afternoon Taipei time, after choosing to end his life by assisted suicide, according to family members. He was 85.

Facebook page posts from 4:00 p.m. Taipei time, showed Fu’s son and close friends with him. Many FB friends left messages after seeing images of him hugging his loved ones for the last time.

Fu campaigned hard to have euthanasia legalized in Taiwan, saying he was ready to be the first to use such a provision. However, euthanasia remains illegal in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-06-06

President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday signed into law the Act on Savings Accounts for

the Education and Development of Children and Teenagers. This is aimed at providing government funding for the education of underprivileged children.

The savings accounts that are the subject of the law will allow parents of underprivileged children to save for their education, with the government matching their contributions by up to NT$15,000 (US$500) per year. Tsai said this allows the parents to withdraw a maximum amount of NT$550,000 (US$18,500) by the time their children turns 18. This amount is enough to put a student through four years of university, Tsai said.

The president said over 3,000 families opened accounts during the program’s trial run over the last year and they have saved more than NT$60 million (US$2 million) in total. She said it is the government’s job to provide equal opportunities for everyone, and that the new act will ensure that more children from underprivileged families have access to higher education.    [FULL  STORY]

One woman is on a mission to take Taiwan’s leading musical talent to a wider audience in New York.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/06/06
By: Jocelle Koh

“If you think it’s right, then just do it. Don’t be worried. So far everything I’ve done and

every idea I’ve had has been based on ‘I think it’s the right thing to do.’”

This was the final piece of advice Taiwanese Waves event curator and music promoter Mia Min Yen (嚴敏) proffered as we closed off our hour-long interview, which also coincided with our first face-to-face meeting in October 2017. Taiwanese Waves is an annual free-of-charge showcase of Taiwanese musical artists in New York’s Central Park, which this year falls on July 29 as part of the legendary Central Park SummerStage event that brings free concerts to the heart of the city each summer.

As one of the only other people I know to have set their sights on sharing Taiwanese or Mandarin music with Western audiences, I’ve always kept her words with me as a compass of sorts, providing guidance when the road ahead seems unclear. Mia has always been interested in Taiwan’s independent music scene. After moving to New York to pursue her masters degree, she began taking on jobs and opportunities to learn more about live music curation, with one of the internships being with SummerStage itself.
[FULL  STORY]

Chu Chia-lung asked Taiwan High Court judges for bail during a bail hearing on Tuesday, claiming he would cooperate with all anti-escape measures and that his heavy build is a disadvantageous condition for escape

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/06/06
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)–Chu Chia-lung (朱家龍), who was sentenced to 10 years in

prison in the second trial on May 29 for his role in the W Hotel party death, asked Taiwan High Court judges for bail during a bail hearing on Tuesday (June 5), claiming he would cooperate with all anti-escape measures and that his heavy build is a disadvantageous condition for escape. However, the judges said they would make a decision after discussion.

Chu and two of his friends were accused of hosting a drug party in a W Hotel room on December 2, 2016, which caused a 21-year-old model surnamed Kuo (郭) to overdose and died on December 7.

The high court upheld a local court’s guilty verdict and sentenced Chu to 10 years in prison. Both Chu’s friends received about the same amount of jail time given to Chu. Two other defendants who supplied the drugs were sentenced to nine years in prison and to six years and six months, respectively.      [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/06/06
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan

Taipei, June 6 (CNA) Taiwan’s top maritime official on Tuesday called for cooperation

with regional partners as he proposed a way to resolve overlapping fishing rights claims in waters off Japan-held Okinotori atoll in the West Pacific and turning Taiwan-controlled Taiping Island in the South China Sea into a humanitarian rescue center.

The maritime policy of all countries should embrace the idea of “global public goods” to make better and sustainable use of marine resources, Hwung Hwung-hweng (黃煌煇), minister of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Ocean Affairs Council (OAC), told CNA in an interview.

Established in April and headquartered in southern Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City, the OAC is the nation’s first central government agency to take charge of maritime affairs, formerly managed by 22 disparate agencies.

‘DESINICIZATION’: A senior Chinese official said a small number of pro-independence advocates have tried to prevent the development of a peaceful cross-strait relationship

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 07, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Reiterating the importance of the so-called “1992 consensus” and anti-independence

efforts as the foundation of cross-strait cooperation, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday said he hoped that both sides of the Taiwan Strait can go from “feeling as close as one family” (一家親) to “becoming actual family members” (一家人).

Hau made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 10th annual Straits Forum in Xiamen, China.

The forum aims to boost private-sector exchanges across the Taiwan Strait and is this year focused on four areas: youth, grassroots, cultural and economic exchanges.

Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Yang (汪洋) attended the forum after meeting with Hau earlier in the day.    [FULL  STORY]

Sun reportedly apologized to the court, expressing deep regret for the incident, and for being unable to attend university in the U.S.

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/06/05
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan New) – The Taiwanese exchange student accused of threatening a mass

shooting at his high school near Philadelphia had been sentenced to four to 23 months in prison, and was released after a judge ordered immediate parole to federal immigration authorities for deportation.

An Tso “Edward” Sun (孫安佐), the 18-year-old son of Taiwanese talk show hosts Sun Peng (孫鵬) and Di Ying (狄鶯), was arrested last March after he reportedly told a classmate he was going to “shoot up” the Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School on May 1, though he called it a joke.

Sun was charged with terroristic threatening and with possessing an instrument of crime after police discovered more than 1,600 bullets at his host family’s house.

The Delaware County Daily Times reports Sun entered an open plea on Monday, June 4, in Delaware County Court. Judge Barry Dozor said Sun had the means to act on his threats and “this was more than just mere words.” Sun reportedly apologized for his actions to the court, saying “he had brought shame on his family and those who supported him.”    [FULL  STORY]

U.S. News & World Report 
Date: June 5, 2018
By:  Ben Blanchard; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore

BEIJING (REUTERS) – China rebuked Taiwan’s president on Tuesday for “irresponsible

remarks” about the 1989 Tiananmen protests, saying Taiwan should stop harping on about the same old thing, after she called on the island’s giant neighbor to embrace democracy.

The Chinese government sent tanks to quell the June 4, 1989 protests in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, and has never released a death toll. Estimates from human rights groups and witnesses range from several hundred to several thousand.

The Tiananmen crackdown is a taboo subject in China and 29 years later it remains a point of contention between China and many Western countries, as well as between China and democratic and self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own.

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said on Monday that if China could face up to what had happened it could become the bedrock for China’s own democratic transformation, and that she hoped one day Chinese people would be free to read for themselves her message, written on Facebook which is blocked in China.    [FULL  STORY]