The film ‘Dear Ex’ arrived in Taiwan along with the apparent rise of seemingly anachronistic values, writes Chan Shao-yi.

The News Lens
Date: 2019/02/26
By: Chan Shao-yi

The 2018 Golden Horse Awards had the international film circuit and critics open-mouthed with two highly publicized dramatic events. First, the tensions sparked by speeches made by a Taiwanese awardee and a Chinese laureate that stemmed from longstanding political divisions between their two polities. Second, the winning of the Best Feature Film by “An Elephant Sitting Still” (大象席地而坐) – the debut (and sadly, final) feature of the young Chinese director, Hu Bo (胡波), who ended his own life at age 29.

Amidst the frenzy that surrounded these two events, the films themselves were understandably, yet regrettably, overshadowed by the media spectacle. What caught my attention, though, is the small but noticeable presence of LGBT-themed films, including the Hong Kong film “Tracey” (翠絲), which centers on a married man who rediscovers and struggles with his transgender self; and “Dear Ex” (誰先愛上他的), the only entry from Taiwan shortlisted for Best Feature Film.

Of course, one cannot help noticing the timeliness of these films: a public referendum in November 2018 initiated by the Coalition for the Happiness of our Next Generation (下一代幸福聯盟) saw a result against legalizing same-sex marriage in Taiwan – an event that devastated the hopes of countless LGBT couples and their supporters.

Given the close ties between the medium of cinema and Sinophone queer cultures (the term tongzhi 同志, which is the common appellation for the Chinese-speaking LGBT community, was popularized by the Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival during the early 1990s), it seems high time to rethink this turn of events in tandem with the development of LGBT-themed films in Taiwan – itself an exciting arena that deserves more extensive study. For the sake of clarity I have decided to employ the relatively more neutral ‘LGBT film’ throughout this article, but the complexity and varying degrees of contextual significance attached to many existing terms such as queer cinema (or New Queer Chinese Cinema) and tongzhi cinema should not be overlooked.    [FULL  STORY]

The operation was one of the largest police have ever discovered

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/02/26
By: Ryan Drillsma, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — NT$1 billion worth of illegal substances have been seized over the past six months in one of the country’s largest-ever illicit drug busts, Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration said during a press conference on Monday.

A total of 2.8 kg of hashish, 60 kg of ketamine, 509 packets of drug-laced coffee, 2,763 kg of ingredients used to produce mephedrone, over 1 million tablets of sedative Etizolam, and 11 kilos of mixed third and second class drugs have been seized from warehouses.

Police also discovered two racking machines—used in the pharmaceutical industry—alongside a modified handgun and 34 bullets, reports CNA.

Tsai presented awards to officers involved in the haul and congratulated them for their brave efforts. She expressed the government’s ardent support for those at the frontline of law enforcement operations, and commended the individuals involved for the time, patience and determination it took to crack the case.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/02/26
By: Wen Kuei-hsiang, Liu Kuan-ting and Ko Lin

Taipei, Feb. 26 (CNA) Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) reiterated Tuesday that he is ready to fight for the

sake of peace, and said that enemies who choose to use force against Taiwan will get a taste of their own medicine.

Su was responding to opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker Hsu Chih-jung (徐志榮), who asked the premier during a legislative hearing that day if signing a peace agreement with China would mean Taiwan’s “surrender.”

“I am absolutely ready to fight for peace,” he affirmed, adding that he is totally against kowtowing to Beijing.

The two major parties have been verbally sparring since KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said Feb. 14 that he will seek a peace treaty with China if the party wins next year’s presidential election.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2019/02/25
By: Brian Hioe, 破土 New Bloom

Taipei, Feb. 25 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) estimated Monday that Taiwan’s national defense

industry, boosted by the government’s program to build naval ships at home, could create at least 8,000 “high-quality” jobs.

Addressing a convention of local suppliers supporting Taiwan’s home-grown naval vessel program, Tsai said the shipbuilding deals crafted recently under the program are expected to result in an output value of as much as NT$40.5 billion (US$1.32 billion).

The president did not provide details of the “deals” in the speech, but lauded the program as saving Taiwan’s shipbuilding industry from collapse amid a global recession in that sector.

“The global shipbuilding sector hit a low in recent years that led to two-thirds of shipbuilders around the world to shut down,” Tsai said, noting that what the industry needs the most right now is “orders.”
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 26, 2019
By: Chen Wen-chan and Sherry Hsiao  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Animal Rescue Team Taiwan yesterday urged authorities to investigate a plastic animal trap that has

become popular online, after the organization received reports from animal lovers.

People are aware that the use of traditional, metal animal traps has been prohibited, Animal Rescue Team spokesperson Anthony Ni (倪京台) said.

However, the organization has received reports about a plastic trap, dubbed a “modified animal trap,” claiming to be a new, “third-generation” product with a “200 percent capture rate” that can kill mice instantly, Ni said.

The traps can be found on major online retail Web sites and are being sold for NT$39 each, he said, adding that a seller was offering a buy-three-get-one-free deal.

The seller included more than 10 photographs and videos demonstrating how the trap works, he said.

The trap is incredibly powerful and could break a child’s fingers if they get them caught in it, Ni said.

Animal traps, as defined in Article 2-1 of the Enforcement Rules of Animal Protection (動物保護法施行細則), are “devices designed to catch and restrain an animal by using strong spring operated [jaws] either with or without a serrated edge or teeth” — regardless of construction material or product name, he said, citing a Council of Agriculture statement.    [FULL  STORY]

Los Angeles Times
Date: Feb 23, 2019 
By Ralph Jennings

Taiwan, which counts Nicaragua as one of just 17 formal diplomatic allies, has given the similarly isolated

Central American nation a $100-million-loan to help it ease a stubborn deficit on the heels of nearly a year of protests and riots.

As it hopes to persuade President Daniel Ortega from switching recognition to China as five other countries have done since mid-1916, Taiwan is providing the cash to rebuild infrastructure wrecked by the ongoing street violence.

Nicaragua faces a $320-million deficit caused by the civil unrest because at least two normally helpful countries in Europe are no longer pitching in. U.S. officials, for their part, believe Ortega has cracked down too hard on protesters, some of whom have demanded the longtime leader resign.

China, backed by a $12 trillion-plus economy, frequently outbids Taiwan on development aid to make nations switch allegiance, the foreign ministry in Taipei has said. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and believes the self-ruled island has no right to conduct foreign relations. Taiwan rejects that view.
[FULL  STORY]

The young woman drowned the child and abandoned the body outdoors, she was arrested Saturday night

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/02/24
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A 21 year old woman has been arrested on charges of murdering her newborn baby boy in Taiwan’s Miaoli County.

The 21 year old woman, surnamed Liu (劉), drowned her child on Dec. 21, only days after giving birth on Dec. 15.

Upon arriving at home from the hospital with the newborn, Liu found that there were no family members home and decided to immediately dispose of the child.

According to reports, Liu carried the child to a neighborhood temple less than 50 meters from her home and then drowned the child in the temple’s public sink.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/02/24
By: Yin Jun-jie and Evelyn Kao

New York, Feb. 23 (CNA) Taiwan may be facing unprecedented difficulties being caught between the United

States and China, but it enjoys an unprecedented level of security at the moment, a Taiwanese academic has argued.

Ming Chu-cheng (明居正), a political science professor at National Taiwan University who specializes in Chinese politics, said Saturday in a speech in New York that the trade war started by U.S. President Donald Trump has had a major impact on China and affected cross-Taiwan Strait relations.

The pressure from the trade war has contributed to the many internal and external problems facing Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and to relieve the pressure, Xi has had to look to a breakthrough in cross-strait relations to deliver a political achievement, Ming argued.

That is why China has changed its strategy toward Taiwan, the professor said in his speech at the Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office.    [FULL  STORY]