Han slammed for story about ‘water bamboo princess’ calves

Han slammed for story about ‘water bamboo princess’ calves

2025-10-17

Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu has found himself in hot water for making comments regarding women’s calves once again. This time round, it was due to a story he told at a water bamboo festival in Sanzhi, New Taipei. He recounted a time he attended a similar festival in Nantou, where they pick a “water bamboo princess” based on how beautiful their legs are. Though water bamboo shoots are colloquially known as “legs of a belle,” Han’s comments didn’t sit well with some, given his history. Let’s hear the story.

Han Kuo-yu
Legislative Speaker
Every year, Nantou chooses a water bamboo princess. One time I asked the organizers,
the Puli Farmer’s Association about it. I said “How do you choose one?” They said, “The most important thing is having beautiful calves, as beautiful as our water bamboo.”

Rosalia Wu
Lawmaker (DPP)
He keeps making comments that objectify woman. You can be humorous and funny without it being at the expense of women. It seems that our legislative speaker really has a thing for beautiful white calves.

Han’s story reminded many of previous problematic comments, in which he objectified women. While running for lawmaker in 2020, he sparked outrage admitting that as a student, he would always look at the “white, beautiful calves” of the girl sitting in front of him. That, he said caused his grades to plummet. Lawmaker Rosalia Wu slammed Han on Friday, saying that after so many years he still was obsessed with fair calves, and with making amusing comments at the expense of women.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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#HanKuoyu #Taiwanpolitics #genderequality #waterbamboo #nantou #puli #政治 #韓國瑜 #性別平等

韓國瑜推廣茭白筍再談"漂亮小腿"說被批"消費女性"

2025-10-17

茭白筍俗稱美人腿，今天(17日)上午，立法院長韓國瑜在立法院宣傳新北三芝茭白筍，提到南投埔里每年舉辦的茭白筍公主，評選標準最重要的就是"小腿要漂亮"，這番言論，讓不少立委看不下去。

[[立法院長韓國瑜]]
“南投有個筊白筍公主選舉，有一年我就問主辦單位埔里農會，我說請問你的標準是什麼?他說我們筊白筍公主啊，最重要就是小腿要漂亮，因為我們筊白筍跟小腿一樣。”

[[立委(民) 吳思瑤]]
“他一直把這種物化女性，這種比喻掛在嘴邊。你可以詼諧，你可以有趣，但不一定要消費到女性，看來院長真的對美白小腿，是特別情有獨鍾。”

立法院長韓國瑜，2020年在幫立委候選人站台時，曾脫口說出「國中念書時，每天看坐在前面的女同學又白、又漂亮的小腿，看完以後成績就一落千丈。」引發輿論抨擊，今天的這番說法，吳思瑤怒轟他多年過去了，對"美白小腿"依舊情有獨鍾、消費女性。

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In Miaoli, the county’s only centenarian couple celebrated with family and friends.

Miaoli County Commissioner Chung Tung-chin presented the couple with golden certificates issued by the Presidential Office. For Chung, this was especially meaningful, as the old woman bears the same name as his late mother.

Chung Tung-chin
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This woman is called Chung Lin Yu-ying, exactly the same four characters as my mother, so of course I feel a particular closeness. Even at this age, their hearing is good and reactions are sharp.

The couple has four daughters and three sons, who said their parents were farmers and embody the traditional Hakka traits of resilience and diligence. They do almost everything themselves and stay active, which may be the secret to their longevity.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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New sports minister promises to keep working hard after month in office

The Ministry of Sports was inaugurated on Sept. 9, with Taiwan’s youngest-ever minister at the helm: badminton champion Lee Yang. In the month since taking office, Lee has shown positivity and enthusiasm when promoting his flagship policies. He equates it to a game, saying that the match has only just begun and there’s still effort to be made. In the short term, apart from planning for the Asian Games in Nagoya next year, he vowed to keep listening to public needs and bring the nation together through sports.

Running a 5K before work, new Minister of Sports Lee Yang is setting an example for everyone to stay active. He’s kept it up for over month now, as Taiwan’s youngest-ever Cabinet minister.

Lee Yang
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As the only minister who was a professional athlete, there are many expectations on Lee to bring some fresh ideas to the ministry. In the past month, apart from visiting lawmakers and industry veterans to understand current policies and hear their opinions, Lee is also going out into communities and to the Sports Training Center to listen to athletes and coaches, taking into account the needs of both competitive athletes and the general public.

Lee Yang
Minister of Sports
We’ve created a committee of athletes. There used to be one, but the members were appointed by the chair. We hope to make it better by having the athletes themselves vote and expanding it to between 7 and 11 members. Through them, we hope to in a short term gain a better understanding and create a more conducive environment for sports. Only after sports facilities improve can we use policies to encourage the public to participate in sports.

Apart from planning for the Asian Games in Nagoya next year, Lee’s short-term plans include incorporating everyone’s needs to create more comprehensive and better planning.

Lee Yang
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First, we’re coming up to the Asian Games. Of course, we hope to use the resources we have—since the budget has already been set—we hope to create a plan that can better protect our athletes’ right to compete. We need to take stock of what’s needed in Taiwan as a whole and people’s expectations of us. Only after understanding these things, can we formulate a more comprehensive policy direction.

After only a month in office, Lee is showing his passion for developing sports while actively promoting reform and coordination. He hopes to oversee large strides in Taiwan’s competitiveness, as well as use sports to bring people together, no matter their background.

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New perfume institute crafts scents inspired by incense and tea leaves

Collectors of exotic perfumes are in for a treat. A new fragrance research institute in Nantou is developing perfumes that smell like burning sticks of incense outside a Taiwanese temple and tea leaves. They will eventually be sold in international markets. An almost 50-year-old Taiwanese cosmetics company has founded the institute in Nantou, as well as a tourist-friendly cosmetics factory. Let’s find out more.

A new tourist-friendly cosmetics factory covering over 3,300 square meters opens with great fanfare. Nantou County Commissioner Hsu Shu-hua and Nantou Mayor Chang Chia-tse are cutting the ribbon, witnessing a local cosmetics brand reach a new milestone.

Chen Wei-chung
Cosmetics group director-general
We are working with the Nantou County government to promote tourism. This is a major county for tourism. We all know that Nantou is the Switzerland of Taiwan. So I have done my part to build factories in Nantou. In the future, the number of employees will gradually increase. Currently, there are about 50 people. That will increase to 200 or 300.

Chen Wei-chung, director-general of a major cosmetics group, is from Nantou’s Mingjian Township. Coincidentally, the Nantou County Government was developing an industrial park and wanted to promote tourist-friendly factories. Chen immediately promised the county government he would return to his hometown and make investments. He set up a tourist-friendly cosmetics factory and also built a perfume research institute for researching and developing unique Taiwanese fragrances.

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A scooter in Taichung prepares to make a left turn at a busy intersection, but its seat is piled high with furniture.

Taking a closer look, there’s an office chair, cushioned seat, metal basket, and even a water gun all carefully stacked together and tied down to the seat. Passersby couldn’t help noticing the spectacle. But driving a scooter like this is dangerous and against the law.

Liao Chin-hsiang
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If a scooter is loaded with items that are higher than the driver’s shoulders, the driver would be fined from NT$300 to NT$600 in accordance with the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act.

Another unusual traffic hazard occurred in Taichung recently, when a bus left its rear door open.

Students stand in the no-standing zone by the bus door, showing that the bus was crowded. Although it’s driving down the street, its rear door is wide open.

Ho Chang-wei
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We discovered that our driver neglected to close the door after letting passengers on and off the bus.

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Why would you need to hold a press conference to justify yourself and say that you’ve done so much, and that you shouldn’t have gotten fined for being overtime by two minutes? Can you not have more respect for human lives?

The union is staging a protest and offering flowers to Ms. Sun outside the EVA Air headquarters while the press conference is being held inside. The union also announces that they’ll hold another protest in November, during the EVA Air Marathon.

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With just a few strokes from the fingertips, the patterns are transposed into a symphony.

The technology behind this 5.5m-tall interactive interface was utilized at Taiwan’s Tech World Pavilion at the recently concluded Expo 2025 Osaka. Although smaller in size, the results coming from the many displays and robotic arms still dazzle.

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There’s also this AI textile sorting system. All you need to do is place a garment onto the platform, and in just one second, the material composition is identified. Every hour, the system can identify up to 900kg of textile, making it an efficient tool for sorting up to 80,000 tons of clothing discarded every year.

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AI-powered robots are also becoming smarter shop assistants. You can ask the robot directly the goods you’re looking for. There are also breakthroughs in medical applications. This device utilizes non-invasive direct current to relieve symptoms of depression. All in all, 65 technologies being showcased here demonstrate the infinite possibilities of Taiwan-developed AI.

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