Councilor flags pro-unification books in Taipei public library

Councilor flags pro-unification books in Taipei public library

2023-10-23

A Taipei councilor wants the removal of pro-unification library titles donated to Taipei by Shanghai. Citing public complaints, councilor Lin Yen-feng has raised the alarm on several books in the Taipei City Main Public Library, located in a section called “Spotlight of Shanghai.” One problematic work is Xi Jinping’s “The Governance of China,” which refers to Taiwan as part of China.

Lin Yen-fen
Taipei City councilor (DPP)
“Although the two sides of the strait have yet to be unified, they belong to one country. The blood that flows through our veins is that of the Chinese people.” This is the discourse of unification. Chiang Wan-an, is that what your so-called “equal and respectful” exchange is? I urge the immediate recall of these books.

Yin Wei
Taipei City Government spokesperson
The books pointed out are also in the collections of the National Central Library. Why shouldn’t our standards be consistent with theirs?

The books were donated by Shanghai to Taipei, as part of a book exchange launched at the Shanghai-Taipei City Forum in 2013. One donated title, “Gei Xiao Hai De Li Shi Di Li,” or “history and geography for children,” shows Taiwan on a map of China. Another title, “Zhong Guo Di Li,” emphasizes that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China’s territory. In response to the councilor’s call, the Taipei Public Library stated that public libraries provide a space for residents to learn and develop independent judgment. It said that the titles received in the book exchange will remain available to the public.

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台北市立圖書館"上海之窗"專區暗藏統戰書籍

2023-10-23

台北上海雙城論壇推動兩岸交流，從2013年郝龍斌市長時期開始，雙方圖書館就展開書籍互贈。但最近有民眾發現，在台北市立圖書館的「上海之窗
專區，暗藏不少統戰書籍，包含習近平專書、把台灣納入的中國地理等等，議員痛批蔣市府疏於把關。

[[台北市議員(民) 林延鳳]]
“「兩岸雖然尚未統一，但同屬一個國家。我們的血液裡面流動的都是中華民族的血」這樣子的內容就是促統的言論。蔣萬安這難道就是你口中的所謂對等尊嚴的交流嗎？我呼籲應該要馬上回收這些書籍。”

[[台北市政府發言人殷瑋]]
“所指出來的書籍在國家圖書館也有相關館藏，我想我們標準要一致嘛。”

對岸送來的書籍，包括《給孩子的歷史地理》，中國地圖把台灣納入；另一本《中國地理》，強調台灣是中國領土不可分割的一部分，兩岸人民渴望祖國統一。北市圖表示，公共圖書館提供市民終身學習、獨立判斷的環境，與上海所換書籍仍上架供閱。

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Wearing a blue blazer is Victorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, speaker of the Lithuanian parliament, who’s leading a delegation to Taiwan. On Monday, President Tsai Ing-wen hosted a luncheon for the delegation. They discussed matters related to security in the Indo-Pacific and trade ties between Taiwan and Lithuania.

Tsai Ing-wen
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In addressing the changing geopolitical landscape, Taiwan continues to leverage the Central and Eastern European Investment Fund to bolster economic and trade ties with Lithuania. And this July, Lithuania published its Indo-Pacific Strategy, in which it stated that it is seeking to enhance practical cooperation with Taiwan.

Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen
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In turn Lithuania has a lot to offer. Particularly our sectors of technology and innovation are advancing rapidly, and we could well become Taiwan’s gateway to Europe.

In recent years, Taiwan and Lithuania have only grown closer. In 2021, the two sides agreed to the establishing of a Taiwanese representative office in Vilnius, which became the first in Europe to feature the word “Taiwanese” in its official name. The office is now an important bridge between Taiwan and Europe. The Lithuanian speaker also met with Vice President Lai Ching-te.

Lai Ching-te
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As hegemony expands in the South and East China Seas and in the Indo-Pacific region, taking action to support Taiwan is tremendously meaningful. Recently, Lithuania’s foreign ministry released its Indo-Pacific strategy, stressing the goals of security, resilience and prosperity. We look forward to stronger cooperation between Taiwan and Lithuania.

Lai thanked Lithuania for taking concrete action in support of Taiwan. The Lithuanian delegation has a four-day itinerary in Taiwan, and is scheduled to visit the Legislative Yuan on Tuesday to deepen bilateral exchanges.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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DPP condemns China’s Hon Hai tax audit as interference in Taiwan election

The DPP has condemned China’s recent tax audit on Hon Hai, the company founded by independent presidential candidate Terry Gou. At a press conference on Monday, DPP lawmakers said China was using economic pressure to interfere in Taiwan’s election. According to lawmakers, Beijing aims to force Gou to quit the race, to pave the way for a joint ticket between the KMT and Taiwan People’s Party.

Chuang Jui-hsiung
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By conducting tax and land inspections on Hon Hai, the CCP is basically giving direct orders. It’s as if the only option were an alliance between the KMT and TPP, and not one between Gou and Ko.

The DPP legislative caucus condemned China’s unexpected probe into Hon Hai’s taxes. Lawmakers say Beijing is trying to interfere in Taiwan’s elections via economic means, to force candidates into political moves.

Hung Sun-han
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Terry Gou and his group announced that Tammy Lai had renounced her U.S. citizenship. And right after, Beijing intervened to promote a KMT-TPP alliance in hopes of uniting all the opposition parties to challenge the ruling party.

China has been closely watching Taiwan’s elections. On Aug. 28, Gou announced he intended to run for president as an independent candidate. On Aug. 30, the head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Song Tao, directed veiled criticism at Gou, saying, “Disloyalty and ingratitude bring calamity to heaven and humankind.” On Oct. 20, Gou disclosed preliminary talks on a joint ticket with Ko Wen-je. Two days later, China launched a tax audit on Hon Hai.

Liu Shih-fang
DPP lawmaker
According to the Global Times report, we don’t think the probe was started by the Taiwan Affairs Office, but by the CCP leadership. This is not the approach they usually use to interfere in Taiwan’s politics through economic pressure. What they want to do is to pressure Terry Gou and Tammy Lai to quit the presidential election, after they’ve collected enough signatures to run.

Wang Mei-hua
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The Industrial Development Administration contacted Hon Hai yesterday, and Hon Hai released a statement. I think the company itself will respond to the probe. The Ministry of Economic Affairs will keep monitoring the situation.

In a statement released on Sunday, Hon Hai stressed that legal compliance was one of its fundamental principles, adding that it would cooperate with the relevant units.

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Fish farmer innovates grouper fishing with new breeds and facilities

You may remember in 2022 China banned grouper fish imports from Taiwan, in an effort to hit Taiwan economically. Grouper fish are a lucrative industry that once relied on exports to China. But fish farmers have pivoted to new methods to head off the threat. Today we meet one farmer who has innovated so elegantly, his peers call him the “Grouper King.” He actually began to switch his methods six years ago, when he realized that Chinese farms were starting to cultivate the most common grouper breeds. So Tai Kun-tsai found new breeds, to export to countries like Japan and Singapore. And along with his family, he’s embraced cutting edge processes to make sure his business is ahead of the times.

It was six years ago that Tai Kun-tsai, the “Grouper King,” realized Chinese farmers were cultivating large numbers of giant groupers, tiger groupers, and yellow groupers. So he got out of the giant grouper business, and started to develop the speckled blue and cucumber groupers instead, succeeding in artificial breeding programs. And now that China has banned Taiwan grouper, his exports are doing well.

Tai Kun-tsai
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Right now we sell cucumber grouper live. We can produce cold chain fish. We send them to Japan and Singapore.

Tai’s daughter, Tai Tzu-ying, is taking some grouper fry to the vet for diagnosis. This is the Fish Disease and Aquaculture Safety Testing Center, set up by the company. It applies the maxim “prevention is better than cure” to aquaculture.

Tai Tzu-ying
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We detect health problems in the fish at an early stage. We don’t wait to lose large numbers of fish before we start to put medicine in or start to treat them.

Early testing also helps prevent any traces of medicines being detected when the fish are exported.

Tai Tzu-ying
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For the export fish, we always bring them into the factory first, to clean out any food in their digestive tract. That means less chance they’ll expel foods during transit.

Groupers destined for export are first brought to this preparation pool where they are not fed again. After they’ve passed all the tests they enter the final stage.

The pandemic of the last three years has changed the fish farming industry. Cold chain processing is now of the utmost importance. Tai Kun-tsai visited Japan to learn how it’s done.

Tai Kun-tsai
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In Japan I observed that after they let the blood of the fish, they don’t cool it down with freshwater. They always use cooled seawater.

Whether developing new fish breeds or introducing the most advanced processing facilities, Tai is determined to stay at the forefront of the grouper business and find the way out of any impasse.

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Fares to Japan sky-high amid tourism deficit

Airfares to Japan are sky-high as Taiwan struggles with a tourism deficit. As of August, 2.62 million visits were recorded from Taiwan to Japan. But there were just 500,000 visits the other way around, resulting in a tourism imbalance of more than 5 times. The deficit is reflected in ticket prices. Ahead of the 2023 Taipei International Travel Fair, airlines have announced very few discounts for Japan, with some flight prices even going up instead of dropping.

Portable Wi-Fi devices are now available to rent at Taipei Songshan Airport. The new service targets passengers on direct flights to Tokyo International Airport.

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Going from a city airport to another city airport saves a lot of time, whether you’re calling a cab or taking mass transit.

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I don’t so much care about the cost. Convenience matters to me more.

Currently, four airlines run direct flights to Tokyo International Airport. Besides Taiwan’s EVA Air and China Airlines, there’s Japan Airlines and ANA. Each has two roundtrip flights a day. Passenger load factors have been exceptionally high, with Japanese carriers exceeding 90% due to their vast offering of connecting flights.

Wang Fu-min
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Before the pandemic, many Taiwanese airlines flew directly to Japan’s local airports. Unfortunately, due to manpower shortages at local airports during the pandemic, not all of those direct flights have been restored. But this issue doesn’t affect Japan Airlines’ domestic routes – there is no manpower shortage at any connecting airport.

How strong is Taiwan’s love for Japan? As of this August, the number of visits to Japan reached 2.62 million. In contrast, fewer than 500,000 Japanese tourists made it to Taiwan, marking a tourism deficit of 5.3 times. The contrast is also reflected in airfare. For the upcoming Taipei International Travel Fair, China Airlines won’t discount tickets to popular Japan destinations. It even plans to raise airfare to Sapporo by nearly NT$2,000. EVA Air will keep prices steady for Tokyo and Osaka routes, but slightly raise the cost of departing from Taipei. Bucking the trend, Starlux Airlines will offer a 12% discount across all routes, with savings of up to NT$3,700 for flights to Sendai Airport.

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With the November travel fair approaching, airlines have unveiled their offerings. Travelers can still stand to save cash by doing their homework and shopping around.

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55 works showcased at Taoyuan Fine Arts Exhibition until Nov. 4

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A performer showcases strength and beauty at the Taoyuan Fine Arts Exhibition’s award ceremony. This year’s competition drew entries not only from Taoyuan, but also across Taiwan and the world.

Wang Li-chuan
Taoyuan Dept. of Cultural Affairs deputy head
We saw tremendous advancement in the creativity of artistic expression and in breakthroughs in form.

Aimed at nurturing artistic talent and promoting cultural events, the Taoyuan Fine Arts Exhibition is a visual arts competition with a long history. This year’s event was themed on three-dimensional and multimedia works. Fifty-five outstanding pieces were chosen for achieving breakthroughs, being highly relevant to the times, and bringing forth novel insights.

Tsai Pei-kuei
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We can see that these artists do not have overly socialized, stereotyped styles of creation. There is still a lot of exploratory thinking. We can see many emerging and maturing forms of art here.

This year’s works stand out for their diverse mediums and rich techniques, as well as for balancing tradition and innovation. The artists displayed a high degree of sensitivity to social issues, making their works more artistically relevant and contemporary.

Chang San-cheng
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We hope to gradually build up Taoyuan Fine Arts Exhibition, elevating this competition to the international stage. In the future, our culture will be seen globally. When people think of Taoyuan, they will know that Taoyuan has great depth, that it’s a city with a rich cultural heritage.

The works will be on display until Nov. 4. The Taoyuan Fine Arts Exhibition aims to showcase boundless artistic energy, cementing Taoyuan’s reputation as a top city for art.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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Cat shelter is celebrating six years with feline friends

A cat shelter is celebrating six years of caring for feline friends. Shelter owner Huang Ssu-yu has been rescuing cats since her college days. Now she runs a very tight ship, taking in cats from all walks of life, including some with serious illnesses. But keeping the shelter afloat financially is a constant struggle. The shelter provides a cat café which helps cover some expenses. Taiwan has seen more and more of these private shelters spring up in recent years, as public shelters fail to keep up with the demand for safe homes for abandoned animals.

Shelter owner Huang Ssu-yu only has to bring out a snack and all the cats are on her straight away. She started out rescuing stray cats, and then decided to open this shelter. There are normally 30 cats in this space.

Huang Ssu-yu
Cat shelter founder
We were rescuing cats in university, so after that we decided that if we’re going to rescue them then we should do it properly. So we got lots of training, and then we opened up this shelter. We hope that every cat we give away really finds a wonderful home.

Each cat has its own story. Some are rare breeds, rescued from illegal breeders with wounds. Some hide in the corner, still wary of humans. The shelter’s goal is to make sure the cats get good basic care before they find a new owner.

Huang Ssu-yu
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Normally when we get a new cat, first we test it for FIV, leukaemia and feline parvovirus. If it’s OK, everything passed, then we take it in. But after it’s in, we start by watching it carefully. Sometimes we rescue a cat in bad condition. Then the major tests or later treatments it will need are going to cost tens of thousands of dollars. We don’t accept monetary donations, but if you have cat food at home, like tins they don’t want – because cats are picky – then we do accept donations like that.

Taking care of all these little cuties is expensive. Just the food and litter costs Huang NT$20,000-30,000 a month. On top of that is venue rental and the tests and vaccinations for each new arrival. Special medical treatments are always a big expense. The shelter is a cat cafe, which does provide a little financial help. But for Huang, the main thing is that her feline friends can live and grow up in good health.

Huang Ssu-yu
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There have been some cats which were in very bad condition when they came, or very aggressive or difficult. And in the end when we gave them away, the owners would later send us such cute photos of them. You see they’re in their new home rolling around on the floor and living a great life. And then you really feel that you accomplished something great.

The shelter has been open six years and has successfully found new homes for more than 400 cats. Huang has stringent rules for adoption, to ensure potential owners will be able to take great care of their new friend. For the cats that land in this shelter, the good days are just beginning.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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Artist opens Taiwan’s first tufting store in response to pandemic pressures

Taiwan’s appetite for novel experiences and classes just keeps growing. Handicrafts and crafting classes are a big trend among younger people, who want to use their hands to calm down after a long day. Today we meet an entrepreneur who’s brought a new craft to Taiwan. Tufting is a way to make thick and warm garments or rugs. Former street performer Hans opened the country’s first tufting store in response to the demands of the pandemic. A single class in tufting is a minimum of four hours, but so far, the new craft is proving very popular.

The tufting teacher explains how you must ensure the yarn is properly threaded before starting work.

The tufting gun moves slowly through the fabric, leaving its track visible, but it’s no simple task to control its force and keep the gun stable.

Beginners often slip up because they don’t press the gun into the fabric. But you quickly get the hang of it once you get used to the feeling of the gun in your hand, the teacher says. When the shape is complete, you use a special rug glue to fix the picture and make sure the yarn doesn’t fray.

The rug is dried and then cut out and trimmed, and the piece is complete! Store owner Hans was born in 1997, and his first job was street performance.

You might have seen him bringing the house down with tricks like this in Xinyi District. But in May 2022, the pandemic hit performers hard, and Hans was left with no income, which led him to get into tufting.

Hans
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I love handicrafts and making things with my hands, myself, so I thought I’d bring this thing which I saw abroad to Taiwan and give it a try. More and more people asked me about it, so I thought I’d try opening a store. There were lots of designs that we wanted to try out and we developed, and that was quite hard work. So that slowed us down a lot at first.

After many months setting up, Hans and his team finally opened Taiwan’s first tufting store. They stock more than 50 different yarn colors. The new craft has gained popularity as a soothing and relaxing hobby during and since the pandemic.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

2023-10-23