SPECIES
Singer’s China show axed
Taiwanese Mando-pop singer Tien Fu-chen (田馥甄), better known as Hebe Tien of the girl band SHE, yesterday expressed regret after her scheduled performance in China next month was canceled by the Chinese event organizer. Tien was initially listed in the line-up to perform at the Bubbling Boiling Music & Arts Festival in Tianjin on Thursday. Following protests attributed to “little pinks” — a term used to describe young, jingoistic Chinese nationalists online — event organizers on Saturday announced her performance would be cancelled. Chinese online pundits have labeled Tien a supporter of Taiwanese independence ever since August 2022 when she posted a picture of herself eating spaghetti on Instagram at a time when then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. Pelosi is of Italian descent and Tien’s post was taken as a show of support for Pelosi. Tien has not performed in China since. Separately, Taiwanese singer Crowd Lu (盧廣仲), originally slated to perform on Friday at the Strawberry Music Festival in Beijing, would not be performing at the event anymore, event organizers said on April 21, citing a health issue of a member of Lu’s team . Lu was previously blacklisted by Chinese authorities over his support of the 2014 Sunflower movement.
Photo courtesy of Pourquoi Pas Music
FOOD
Sudan III found in pepper
A black pepper product submitted by a New Taipei City company for voluntary testing that was found to contain a synthetic chemical dye has been recalled, the city government said yesterday. The samples, submitted by YOU-CI Co, contained Sudan III and Sudan IV industrial dyes that are banned from use in food products, said the New Taipei City Department of Health, which tested the pepper products. As a result, that brand of black pepper powder, which is sold mainly to bulk buyers, has been recalled in the city, the department said. It said it has collected ingredient samples from the company’s suppliers for testing, to determine whether the toxic dyes were in the raw materials used or were added during the production process. The batch of contaminated black pepper — about 170kg — had been distributed in New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung and Kaohsiung, and in Yilan, Hsinchu, Changhua, Yunlin and Pingtung counties, the department said, adding that all the local governments have been informed of the problem.
DIPLOMACY
Molds AIT head joins GTI
Former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) director Brent Christensen is to join the Washington-based think tank Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) the institute said. “As a longtime Taiwan fan, I look forward to working with the GTI to promote stronger US-Taiwan relations,” Christensen was quoted as saying in a press release issued by the institute on Thursday. Institute executive director Russell Hsiao (蕭良其) said: “[Christensen’s] lifelong passion for Taiwan and dedication to the practice of US foreign policy are precisely the combination of enthusiasm and hands-on expertise that will help further the unique role that GTI plays in advancing the vital US-Taiwan partnership.” Christensen is to become the third member of the institute’s advisory board who has served as AIT director, along with Stephen Young and William Stanton. The institute was founded in 2016 with a vision to “raise awareness, deepen affinity, and create opportunities for strengthening the relationship between Taiwan and the international community,” it said.
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