Kaohsiung City Government distributes Chiikawa lanterns

Kaohsiung City Government distributes Chiikawa lanterns

2025-01-17

The popular Japanese anime character Chiikawa will be the star of this year’s Kaohsiung Lantern Festival. Chiikawa lanterns will be distributed to the public starting Monday Jan 20. Today, staff from elementary schools and kindergartens went to Kaohsiung Municipal Longhua Primary School to pick up their quota, counting the quantities carefully.

Lee Mei-chin
Kaohsiung Municipal Longhua Primary School Principal
There are more than 200 schools, elementary schools, and if you add on kindergartens, there may be nearly 300. The numbers available are very precise and very clear, and each school principal must give their stamp, before they can be collected. The quantity control is very strict. They are just too attractive to people, and many kids are looking forward to them.

The fan favorite Chiikawa is not only designed to be a cute little lantern. The giant version will make its appearance by the Love River Bay from Jan. 25. Some hotels have taken advantage of this to launch exclusive tours to see the giant character. Provided you stay in a designated room, you’ll receive an exclusive ticket for a cultural yacht tour and see the cute charm on the waters up close.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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高雄吉伊卡哇小提燈將發放國小.幼園人員領取點數量

2025-01-17

風靡全台的吉伊卡哇，是今年高雄燈會的主角，高雄市政府製作超可愛的吉伊卡哇小提燈，即將在20號發放，週五各國小和幼兒園的工作人員，都到龍華國小領取，仔細清點數量。

[[龍華國小校長李美金]]
“兩百多所學校，就是國小還有幼兒園，加起來可能將近三百個，因為那數量都非常仔細跟清楚，由各校的校長來核章，才能夠來領取，應該是數量管控是很嚴格的。這個太吸引人了，很多小朋友都很期待。”

粉絲數爆棚的吉伊卡哇，不僅設計成可愛的小提燈，從1月25號起，還有放大版漂浮現身愛河灣，有飯店趁勢推出「賞IP專屬船班」，只要入住指定房型，就送文化遊艇專屬套票，讓吉粉們近距離從海上，欣賞吉伊卡哇的萌魅力。

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DPP launches mass-recall campaign after opposition moves to cut budget

2025-01-17

DPP decries ‘retaliatory’ budget cut proposals from opposition

The Legislative Yuan on Wednesday began negotiations over Taiwan’s national budget for 2025 that under an Executive Yuan plan stood at NT$32.74 trillion in total. Opposition lawmakers, who have a majority in the legislature, are proposing to slash it by more than NT$300 billion, or over 10%. The Executive Yuan on Thursday protested these proposals, saying the cuts could severely hamper the government’s operations. On Friday, the ruling DPP held a press conference, where they labeled the opposition’s proposals unreasonable and like “cultural martial law.” Let’s hear what everyone had to say.

Justin Wu
DPP spokesperson
At this point, it’s a no-holds-barred political prosecution that in the end, sacrifices the rights of the people. The KMT and the TPP truly are sinister servants that harm their masters, the people.

DPP spokesperson Justin Wu decries several budget cuts proposed by opposition parties. Some of the proposals included eliminating the media budget for all ministries. The opposition also proposed cutting the operational budgets of the Ministry of Digital Affairs, the National Communications Commission, and the Mainland Affairs Council to just NT$1, claiming the three ministries serve no function.

Cho Kuan-ting
DPP spokesperson
Cutting it all the way to just NT$1. There’s only one way to describe it: it’s what crybabies do. As long as they’re unsatisfied or unhappy, or their views differ from yours, it’s all down to zero.

For example, the Ministry of Culture has asked for NT$195 million for the Culture Points program, but the KMT wants to shave off NT$2 million from this and freeze a further NT$10 million. The reason they gave was that most of the Culture Points were spent in the bookstore and publishing industries, instead of reaching the objective of diversifying cultural activities. Additionally, funding for the Taiwan Public Service Foundation at NT$2.31billion should be slashed down to zero, KMT lawmakers said, citing various controversies, such as the TV drama “Three Tears in Borneo,” which the KMT perceives to lean too close to imperial Japan. The opposition also proposed slashing other various items across ministries to zero for a myriad of reasons.

Justin Wu
DPP spokesperson
Wang Hung-wei says she doubts whether the firefighting equipment can be used if a war were to break out, so that’s why she’s cutting it. I find this reason to be absolutely ridiculous. Lai Shyh-bao says he’s cutting regular administrative fees under the National Police Agency. He says the tasks can be done by the police officers themselves. So, Lai Shyh-bao, you won’t even let the officers off the hook. Are you asking them to do the cleaning?

Cho Kuan-ting
DPP spokesperson
Sometimes cuts are proposed because we just can’t stand the other. That’s all very normal. But you can’t make retaliatory and unreasonable cuts just because you’re unhappy. In that case, I think it’s the people that will be unhappy in the end.

The DPP decries the opposition’s budget cut proposals as revenge on the ruling party that will hamper the functioning of the country.

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

2025-01-17

Former lawmaker Tsai Pi-ju to run for TPP chair

2025-01-17

China will permit group tours from Shanghai and Fujian in Taiwan

Cross-strait tourism in Taiwan proper has been effectively banned since the COVID pandemic. However, on Friday there was an unexpected breakthrough. The PRC’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced that it would permit group tours from Shanghai and Fujian Province. However, Taiwan’s long-suffering tourism industry worries that if the government does not lift its own ban on Chinese group tours, then this measure will not be of any help. The Mainland Affairs Council says that while the government welcomes the move, China has not announced any specific follow-up measures. It plans to wait for China to announce them, and then will try to communicate with Beijing. Let’s hear what everyone had to say.

At the Taipei-Shanghai Twin City Forum at the end of last year, Hua Yuan, a deputy mayor of Shanghai, said in a speech that his government would show goodwill and allow group tours from Shanghai to visit Taiwan.

Now, the PRC’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has officially announced that group tours from Shanghai and Fujian Province to Taiwan will resume, and that China is actively preparing for this. The PRC’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Chen Binhua said resuming group tours from Shanghai and Fujian is in line with Taiwan’s pursuit of peace, development, exchanges and cooperation. He called on Taiwan to lift a ban on group tours as soon as possible and promote exchanges upholding the spirit of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait being “one family.”

Chen Chien-chin
Tourism operator
They’ve already gotten the PRC’s Taiwan entry permits, so they are just waiting for us to authorize entry into Taiwan. What about the ban on group tours? When will you, the Mainland Affairs Council, lift it?

Ringo Lee
Travel Quality Assurance Association
Taiwan’s ban on group tours should be lifted soon, and the orange alert for China, should also be lowered. Taiwan’s response has been relatively benign, so there will certainly be opportunities this year.

In response, the Mainland Affairs Council said the government welcomes Chinese tourists to Taiwan, but it is still waiting for China to announce specific measures, before it communicates more with Beijing, and decides on procedures.

Chen Chien-chin
Tourism operator
Over the Lunar New Year, hotel booking rates in Hualien and Taitung will be only at 20% to 30%. During the nine-day holiday over the Lunar New Year, everyone’s going abroad. I believe that our performance in the hotels and lodging industry, including those related to tourism, will at least pick up to more than 50%.

Tourism operators hope that Taiwan’s hotel industry can return to its former glory as soon as possible, but they say it will all depend on the future talks between Taipei and Beijing.

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

2025-01-17

First case of capital punishment during President Lai Ching-te’s term

Huang Lin-kai, an inmate on death row convicted in a 2013 double murder, was executed by firing squad on Thursday night. It was the first execution since President Lai Ching-te took office. Huang, who murdered his ex-girlfriend and her mother, was also the first instance of capital punishment since the Constitutional Court made a ruling last September that severely tightened the conditions under which the death penalty can be administered. The last such execution was in 2020 and currently there are 36 inmates on death row in Taiwan.

At 10:02 p.m. on Jan. 16, a gunshot pierced the quiet night sky over the Taipei Detention Center. Huang Lin-kai, a prisoner on death row, was officially executed.

Law enforcement officers burnt paper money, symbolizing that the execution was over. At 10:23 p.m., Huang Lin-kai’s body was sent to the New Taipei City Funeral Parlour.

On Oct. 1, 2013, Huang Lin-kai, who was a soldier at the time, had an argument with his girlfriend, and then nurtured a grudge. He sneaked into his girlfriend’s home and used a pioneering rope to strangle her mother to death. He then waited until 5p.m. when his girlfriend returned home, before he tied her hands together using the same rope and proceeded to rape her. After that, he strangled her the same way he had strangled her mother.

Cheng Ming-chien
Justice Minister
The death row inmate surnamed Huang committed the most serious crime, so this ministry was extremely rigorous and prudent in carrying out the death penalty in accordance with the law to achieve justice.

Huang Lin-kai is not only the first death row inmate to be executed by firing squad after the Constitutional Court made a ruling last September that further limited the conditions under which the death penalty can be applied. He’s also the first case of capital punishment during President Lai Ching-te’s term.

Lai Ching-te
President
According to the ruling made by the Constitutional Court under the Judicial Yuan, the death penalty is constitutional and not unconstitutional. Therefore I very much hope that the public can support the Ministry of Justice administering this according to the law. At the same time, I would also like to express my condolences to the families of victims. After so many years, it’s been tough on everyone.

After a break of 1,751 days, a death row inmate has once again stepped into the firing line. The last time a prisoner on death row was executed was five years ago, when the Tsai Ing-wen government executed one Weng Jen-hsien, who killed six of his relatives in Taoyuan by setting fire to them. There are still 36 more prisoners on death row, awaiting execution.

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

2025-01-17

Doctors say HMPV not as worrying as COVID-19

Chinese health officials said the rate of HMPV infections in the northern part of China is declining. News of increased respiratory illnesses in China sparked international concerns about another potential pandemic. However, medical experts emphasize that HMPV is very different from COVID-19. Voice of America’s Dora Mekouar reports.

China reports that infections of flu-like human metapneumovirus - known as HMPV - are down in the northern part of the country. In recent weeks, reports of rising cases of the virus in the country where COVID-19 began sparked worries of another potential pandemic.

Dr. Ho Mei-shang
Institute of Biomedical Sciences
International scholars are calling on China to disclose pathogen information and conduct genetic research to confirm that it is not a new virus. Even if it is an old virus, it could still be a new variant.

HMPV has been around at least since 2001.

Dr. Thomas Duszynski
Indiana University School of Public Health
It’s a very common virus that we see every year. Most children by the age of five have already had the disease. It’s a virus that will produce symptoms like watery eyes, cough, sneezing, chest congestion.

While HMPV can cause serious illness in children under five, and in older adults with other health problems, it’s usually a mild disease for most people.

Dr. Paul Auwaerter
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It is not nearly as serious as influenza or COVID disease. HMPV has been here for, you know, a long time, has infected millions of people that already have immunity. It’s not as though this is a brand-new virus that might cause devastating problems.

China health officials say the number of patients seeking medical help is lower compared to the same period last year. Auwaerter says the Chinese might be more susceptible to HMPV because China enforced more stringent COVID lockdowns, than for example, the United States, during the pandemic.

Dr. Paul Auwaerter
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
They stayed home, refrained from work, wore masks. So the usual cycles of acquiring an infection, for example, during the respiratory season of winter, people didn’t get infected, so their specific immunity, they weren’t boosted, and so there was a larger population that might be more susceptible.

There is no real treatment or vaccine for HMPV. The doctors say any patients who have trouble breathing should seek medical help.

Dora Mekouar, VOA News, Washington.

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

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Taiwanese breakfast culture prepares to go global

One of Taiwan’s best kept secrets is its breakfast culture. People go out for breakfast more often than for any other meal of the day! There are lots of morning options available in cities, and there are fierce north-south divides over the menu too. One owner of a chain of successful breakfast eateries has opened up about his ambition to take the Taiwanese breakfast global. He grew up in a breakfast diner family in Pingtung, before carving out a niche in Taipei. This undiscovered gem of Taiwanese life is ready for the global stage, he says.

Egg pancake, turnip cake, pan-fried noodles. Or perhaps a shaobing with a fried dough stick and a soy milk. Life’s good in Taiwan. There’s a dizzying array of choices for the very first meal of the day.

Ariel Wang
TV host
In the north, it might be a Chinese-style breakfast: soy milk, shaobing with a fried dough stick. But in the south, you might get noodles as well.

Chang Wen-cheh
Breakfast shop founder
In Taichung, you have thick noodle soup, fried noodles. And even more in Pingtung. There you get all the soup dishes.

Hailing from Pingtung, Chang Wen-cheh grew up in a family that ran a breakfast restaurant. After graduating from college, he became a tour guide, and could show international tourists the “Taiwanese breakfast culture” that made him so proud. Then he went to work in Australia, made his fortune, and came straight back to Taiwan to open the breakfast restaurant of his dreams.

Chang Wen-cheh
Breakfast shop founder
I’d hear the numbers of customers being shouted out, or “Mr. Lin, Mr Lin!... Sir! Madam!” That’s my favorite. So I create that feeling in my own restaurant. We want to be the “king” of breakfasts in Taipei. We don’t just sell breakfast. We’re showing you Taipei culture.

The eatery has found a solid place in the market after nine years in business. Chang says his business philosophy is modelled after the kendo practice he has maintained since childhood.

Chang Wen-cheh
Breakfast shop founder
We aim to follow the kendo concept of “shuhari:” Preserve the classics, break with tradition and transcend something new.

This Pingtung kid has made a splash in the capital, winning a slice of the NT$200 billion annual breakfast-brunch market. But Chang’s ambitions extend even further. Next he wants to take Taiwan’s proud breakfast culture global.

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

2025-01-17