Rural children show off English skills from Rotary International’s online program

2023-11-17

Rotary International held a ceremony at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts to showcase the results of an English language program for children in remote areas. The online learning program has been ongoing for almost 11 years and its teachers are students at the high-school level. The event on Friday was an opportunity for them to finally meet their students in person. Let’s hear from the organizer.

P.H. Lai
Rotary International District 3510
We have brought together 600 or 700 students and teachers from Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung, giving them a chance to show their progress and make friends. We’ve been promoting our online English language classes for almost 11 years. There’s students from 50 to 60 schools in the area. The students and teachers can get together and form connections and friendships. It’s very meaningful.

At the event the students sang songs in English and danced along to music, showing all the language skills they have acquired. The program is an attempt by Rotary International to bridge the education gap between rural and urban areas. Together with the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, it hopes to promote art and literature in remote towns and get children interested in the humanities.

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高美館攜手國際扶輪助偏鄉學生學習英語

2023-11-17

國際扶輪今天到高美館，舉辦偏鄉英語線上課輔計畫成果發表會，扶輪社啟動「偏鄉英語教學計畫」近11年時間，媒合高中生遠端教導偏鄉小學生學習英文，趁著這次孩子們來到高雄，也讓大小學伴開心相見歡。

[[國際扶輪3510地區總監賴寳禾]]
“我們召集了，我們地區涵蓋高雄、屏東、台東，六、七百位的大學伴、小學伴共聚一堂，一起來做友誼以及成果的發表，因為我們英語課的線上課輔計畫，已經推動將近11年，遍佈在整個地區五、六十個學校，還有大學伴跟小學伴，他們是一個友誼的連結跟學習的連結，非常有意義”

學生們活潑英文唱跳，展現這些年來的學習，城鄉教育資源失衡，為了替偏鄉師資不足等問題解套，扶輪社推動「偏鄉英語教學計畫」，高美館也與扶輪攜手推動偏鄉藝文教育，希望將藝術種子深植孩子心中。

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TSMC founder Morris Chang meets U.S. vice president, secretary of state at APEC meet

TSMC founder Morris Chang is in San Francisco, where he is representing Taiwan at an APEC summit. It’s the sixth time for him to act as President Tsai Ing-wen’s personal envoy. In the last two days he’s held talks with many leaders and officials, including U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and top White House economic adviser Lael Brainard. According to experts, Chang not only represents Taiwan, his name is synonymous with global semiconductors. Given that TSMC plans an irreplaceable role in global supply chains, his views are considered quite influential.

Before an APEC dinner, Taiwan’s presidential envoy Morris Chang met with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris alone. The two sides discussed U.S.-Taiwan partnership and regional peace and stability for about 20 minutes.

On the same day Chang held a meeting with Taiwan’s de facto U.S. ambassador Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s trade negotiator John Deng and top White House economic adviser Lael Brainard. At the meeting, all expressed hope that Taiwan and the U.S. could deepen economic cooperation.

Ray Yang
Industrial Technology Research Institute
Taiwan helps the world to build a resilient supply chain. In this, Taiwan is actually a very important and trusted partner internationally. Their possible discussions included winning support for Taiwan’s application to join the CPTPP and the progress of the Taiwan-U.S. Initiative on 21st Century Trade.

After Chang arrived in San Francisco on the 14th, his schedule was packed. When he attended a welcome reception, he interacted closely with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. When he attended the economic leaders’ working lunch, he was placed third on the right from U.S. President Joe Biden, between Thai Prime Minister Sretta Thavisin and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien-loong. Sources said on Nov. 17 local time, Chang will meet with Singapore’s Lee to discuss security and stability in the Indo-Pacific and how to attract investment in high-tech industries.

Ray Yang
Industrial Technology Research Institute
Morris Chang is not only synonymous with Taiwan’s entire technology industries. After decades of observing the development of the global semiconductor industry, Chang a founder, should be able to give some sincere and extremely good advice to the U.S.

Yang says that TSMC, which was founded by Chang, has customers from all over the world’s top tech industries. His presence at the event not only conveyed to the U.S. that Taiwan is a trustworthy partner, but also played a key role, amid the U.S.-China trade war and geopolitical tensions.

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2023-11-17

Biden and Xi meet for the first time in a year

U.S. President Joe Biden met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday outside of San Francisco, where heads of Asia-Pacific economies are gathering. Biden who said he still sees the Chinese leader as a "dictator" said the two agreed to re-establish military communications, work together to assess the threats posed by artificial intelligence, and take meaningful steps to combat the scourge of fentanyl. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Woodside, California.

A historic meeting of East and West, after 12 months of intense drama and diplomacy between Beijing and Washington. The White House chose this venue outside of San Francisco for this symbolic visit, covering a range of key issues, including Taiwan – the self-governing island that China claims, the resumption of military communications, touchy trade disagreements, the origination of fentanyl ingredients in China, and human rights issues.

Biden said he was candid on those tough issues. Xi said the two nations are inextricably linked.

Xi Jinping
Chinese leader
For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option. It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other.

So did the presidents of the world’s two most powerful nations manage to paper over the cracks in their relationship?

Biden spoke to the press afterward. Xi, as is his habit, did not. But, in response to a shouted question, he reiterated a stance that is likely to upset Beijing, that he believes Xi is a dictator.

Joe Biden
US president
Well, look, he is. I mean he’s a dictator ...

Many watching this meeting said they weren’t expecting major results but are glad the two are talking.

Anwar Ibrahim
Malaysian prime minister
This engagement, for example, between President Biden and Xi Jinping, to me it is critical because it should give a clear message that we are here to be able to work together and trust each other to resolve serious problems: climate, issues in Ukraine or Gaza..

Analysts say the success of the summit of Asia-Pacific economies – happening simultaneously in San Francisco – depends on the world’s two largest economies getting along.

Michael Froman
Council on Foreign Relations
Well, I think it’s an important meeting between President Biden and President Xi, with the primary goal of stabilizing the relationship heading into 2024. Being both for bilateral purposes but also very importantly for the broader APEC region. The countries there, the economies there, want the U.S. and China to have some kind of modus vivendi, some kind of stable relationship, particularly in anticipation of Taiwan’s election in January, the U.S. election in November.

Biden said he and Xi will continue to communicate and cooperate. The world, he said, expects it.

Anita Powell, VOA News, Woodside, California.

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2023-11-17

DPP presidential candidate Lai Ching-te discusses the Xi-Biden summit

2023-11-17

TPP’s Ko criticizes KMT, putting a question mark over opposition party cooperation

It’s just been three days since the opposition TPP and KMT said they would cooperate on a historic joint presidential ticket, but already, cracks are beginning to show. On Thursday, the TPP’s presidential candidate Ko Wen-je complained about the KMT in an interview. Ko expressed worries that the KMT might rig the polls that will be used to select a presidential candidate. He also alleged the KMT told him the winning presidential candidate needed to have NT$2 billion on hand and said ironically that even the KMT’s party list of legislators were being auctioned off. KMT politicians hit back, denying the allegation and saying that Ko had misunderstood them.

Ko Wen-je
TPP presidential candidate
He said it will be polls conducted between Nov.7 and Nov. 17. I want to say that I’ve been watching things for so long and there have been no polls. We’ll soon know whether someone has been cheating, as everything will come out in the wash tomorrow.

It’s down to the final poll race between the TPP’s Ko Wen-je and the KMT’s Hou Yu-ih. Ko now says that he expects the KMT to cheat him. In a recent interview, he had said that if he were to end up as vice president, he’d accept the role to monitor Hou closely. But now, he doesn’t seem happy with the method used to decide the roles. Former lawmaker Huang Kuo-chang explains why.

Huang Kuo-chang
Former lawmaker
As soon as you all reached an agreement, I discovered that almost all the polling companies in Taiwan were booked out.

Ko now says he will not accept the results of the opinion polls if they are not fair. But that wasn’t Ko’s only criticism of the KMT. He said he was dumbfounded when negotiations began and he discovered that the KMT was auctioning off its posts on the party list.

Ko Wen-je
TPP presidential candidate
The KMT’s attitude was like “If you want to run for president, you need to have NT$2 billion, actually, you better have NT$10 billion.”

Wang Jin-pyng
Former legislative speaker
That’s never been the case. Just ask Ko and you’ll know. He definitely was not put under any pressure. No one put pressure on him.

Lee De-wei
KMT lawmaker
Whether it’s in the past or now, Ko has an outlook that’s based on many past misconceptions. I think that this cooperation between the TPP and KMT, will get him to understand us better.

Though Ko had agreed to cooperate with the KMT, he’s now full of complaints, much to the chagrin of KMT lawmakers and surprise of observers. Amid speculation that Ko may do a volte face, he is now the biggest uncertainty in the alliance between the TPP and KMT.

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2023-11-17

Work starts on new light corvette prototype

2023-11-17

NPP lawmaker Huang Kuo-chang criticized for quitting party to join Ko’s TPP

Former lawmaker Huang Kuo-chang has quit the New Power Party to join the Taiwan People’s Party. The decision has been slammed by his peers, who say he has lost his integrity and is now working against his past ideals. Huang had been a leader of the Sunflower Student Movement, which opposed the KMT’s attempt to ram a cross-strait service trade pact through the Legislative Yuan without parliamentary oversight. But now, Huang is in the TPP. The party’s chair Ko Wen-je has voiced support for resuming talks on the same controversial pact.

After quitting the New Power Party and joining the Taiwan People’s Party, Huang Kuo-chang spoke in a radio interview about his decision.

Huang Kuo-chang
Former lawmaker
For the sake of the future development of party politics, Taiwan needs a powerful force that keeps both big parties in check.

Huang’s reason was rejected by NPP lawmaker Chiu Hsien-chih, who accused Huang of choosing to stand with corruption.

Chiu Hsien-chih
NPP lawmaker
The TPP’s stance on our sovereignty and identity, and its position on transparency and corruption in politics run completely counter to Huang Kuo-chang’s position.

Huang Kuo-chang
Former lawmaker
I respect his opinion. Yes. I respect it.

Faced with criticisms from his old NPP colleagues, Huang would only say he respected their opinions. Back in 2014, Huang became a leader of the Sunflower Student Movement, which protested the KMT’s passing of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement without a legislative review. Now, Huang is in the TPP, whose chair, Ko Wen-je, has called to restart talks on the agreement.

Huang Kuo-chang (March 19, 2014)
Academia Sinica researcher
I’d like to ask our lawmakers. Where is the legal supervision over signing cross-strait agreements?

Huang’s decision has been protested by the other leaders of the Sunflower Student Movement. They released a statement saying: Ma Ying-jeou, who has close ties with China. The KMT’s Eric Chu and Hou Yu-ih who support the ‘1992 Consensus’ and call for the resumption of talks on the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement. The TTP’s Ko Wen-je, who says that both sides of the strait are one family and who now also supports the agreement. All these forces of the past are making a comeback. We cannot accept that the leaders of the student movement back then are now involved in a joint platform between the KMT and the TPP that will lead Taiwan in the wrong direction towards China.

Claire Wang
New Power Party chair
It would’ve been unimaginable that a person who stood up in front of tens of thousands of people, leading rallies against the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement and against CTi TV, would turn around and speak in defense of people who say both sides of the strait are one family, who want to restart the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement, and who want CTi TV to broadcast on TV again. For the Huang Kuo-chang I knew to give up his dignity to trade with the devil and to stand with the enemy would’ve been hard to achieve.

The NPP chair criticized Huang for turning back on his peers. She said that although Huang had chosen an easier road forward for himself his every action would be closely watched. She said that all his actions regarding the cross-strait trade pact and cross-strait relations will be scrutinized for all to see.

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2023-11-17

Su Sheng-yu rearranges golden oldies with a jazz twist

Today we meet Su Sheng-yu, a Taiwanese award-winning saxophonist. He founded a band in 2022 in hopes of promoting Taiwanese jazz. FTV reporter Stephany Yang spoke to Su to learn about his career and goals for Taiwanese jazz.

This is Taiwanese saxophonist Su Shengyu. He started to learn saxophone at the age of 12. His love for jazz music brought him to the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in 2006.

Su Sheng-yu
Saxophonist
Before I went to university to study, the jazz scene in Taiwan was just getting started. It was not easy to learn jazz, despite there being several teachers in Taiwan who had come back from abroad. I went to study abroad because I had another, bigger dream. It was bring such good music to Taiwan that it could reach more people and get more people to listen to this music.

After studying in Brussels, Su came back to Taiwan to release his first solo album in 2020. He won the Golden Melody Award for Best Instrumental Album. He says that over the past decade, he has witnessed the growth of interest in jazz in Taiwan.

Su Sheng-yu
Saxophonist
Since I came back 10 years ago, I have seen that the number of listeners and musicians in Taiwan’s jazz scene has skyrocketed. Over the past 10 years, jazz events at the National Theater and Concert Hall, and events organized by the Taipei City Government and the Taichung City Government have attracted fantastic crowds.

To further promote Taiwanese jazz, Su founded a band with 11 members, all of whom have studied abroad all over the world. The musicians have collaborated with artists such as Mayday, Lo Ta-you, Tsai Chin, and have been shortlisted for many music awards such as the Golden Melody Award and the Golden Music Award. They make arrangements of golden oldies in Mandarin and Taiwanese, incorporating jazz elements.

Su Sheng-yu
Saxophonist
I founded this band with the goal of allowing more people who don’t listen to jazz or even refuse to listen to jazz to get to understanding jazz more deeply. To do that, we start off from a common language. We take for example, Taiwanese or Mandarin songs that everyone understands and then arrange them, throwing in some jazz elements. This let people see how you can play around with jazz.

Su and his band hope that their music and performances will get more people to learn to love and understand jazz.

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2023-11-17

The dangerous job of rope technician and all it entails

2023-11-17

Taiwan beats Australia 6-0 for first win at Asia Professional Baseball Championships

2023-11-17

Rural children show off English skills from Rotary International’s online program