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Del Rosario joint seventh in Taipei
Pauline del Rosario checked an impending skid with a last-hole birdie as she salvaged a 73 and a joint seventh-place finish in the Party Golfers Ladies Open won by local Ling-Jie Chen in wire-to-wire fashion in Taipei yesterday......»»
SM’s Steven Tan named Winshang’s 2023 International Influential Person in Shopping Centers
SM Supermalls president Steven Tan was recognized as one of Winshang’s Golden Censer Prize winners for being "The International Influential Person of the Year 2023 in Shopping Centers" at the 2023 China (International) Shopping Center Summit in Shanghai on 24 August 2023. The Golden Censer Prize is a large-scale professional recognition of China's commercial real estate and famous brands initiated by Winshang, in collaboration with mainstream industrial media, based on field research, data analysis and media surveys, among others. Tan, who assumed the role of President of SM Supermalls in 2020, has been a key figure in the growth and innovation of the mall chain in the Philippines and China. As president, he oversees mall operations in both countries, carrying forward SM's 65-year legacy of retail innovation and outstanding customer service. SM Mall of Asia Complex Under his leadership, SM Supermalls withstood the challenges of the pandemic and rebounded as the economy slowly opened up amid the global health crisis. With the guidance of the Sy family, Tan made sure that SM responded with an agile, innovative and proactive approach to cater to the needs of all stakeholders, from employees and tenants to shoppers. SM City Yangzhou SM City Sto. Tomas The mall’s strategies -- adapting the tenancy mix, creating novel reasons to attract visitors to malls, targeting new customer segments through innovative marketing and developing omnichannel services -- enabled them to gain the trust and loyalty of modern shoppers during the pandemic. Because of this, SM managed to recover and exceed pre-pandemic revenues and income by 2023. In line with their latest expansion program, SM continues to open new malls in China and the Philippines. This brings the total number of shopping centers, locally and internationally, under Tan's stewardship to 93, featuring a cumulative construction area of over 10.8 million square meters and a daily foot traffic of more than 4.2 million. The latest malls to open were SM City Yangzhou last 28 September 2023 and SM City Sto Tomas, Batangas last 27 October 2023. Tan’s exceptional efforts were also honored by various international organizations over the years. He received numerous accolades including the 2021 Asia's Most Influential by Tatler Asia, the 2022 Asia Pacific Women's Empowerment Principles Awards Leadership Commitment by United Nations Women, and the Global Filipino Executive of the Year at the Asian Chief Executive Officer Awards, just to name a few. His dedication and visionary leadership continue to shape the landscape of shopping centers and commercial real estate, not just in Asia but also across the globe. Steven Tan receives the 2023 PeopleAsia People of the Year Award. Tan shared the Winshang Golden Censer Prize with his two co-awardees, namely Powerlong Real Estate Holding’s Co-president Chen Deli, and SCE Commercial Management Holdings' chairman of the board Huang Lun. SM Supermalls is a subsidiary of SM Prime Holdings Inc., with 85 malls in the Philippines and 8 in China. The post SM’s Steven Tan named Winshang’s 2023 International Influential Person in Shopping Centers appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Chinese sci-fi steps into the spotlight
Once effectively banned, Chinese science fiction has exploded into the mainstream, embraced by the government and public alike –- inviting scrutiny of a genre that has become known for its expanding diversity and relative freedom. Its new status was epitomized by this week's Worldcon, the world's oldest and most influential sci-fi gathering, which closed Sunday after taking place in China for the first time. Held in the gleaming new Chengdu Science Fiction Museum, the event's star was Liu Cixin, author of the international phenomenon "Three-Body" series and inspiration for the domestic blockbuster "Wandering Earth". But the wider science fiction fandom has become a rare space where diverse voices have flourished and a vast array of issues -- social, environmental, even sometimes political -- can be explored. "In its nature, part of sci-fi is talking about the present," award-winning author Chen Qiufan told AFP. "It takes advantage of talking about outer space, or being set in different times, but reflects the human condition right now." Chen's own novel "The Waste Tide" is set in a dystopian future in China, where migrant e-waste workers toil in hazardous conditions, exploited by corrupt conglomerates. He grew up near Guiyu, once one of the largest e-waste dumps in the world. Ecological destruction, urbanization, social inequality, gender, and corruption, to name just a few –- "these issues are intersectional and intertwined with each other", said Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University's Liu Xi. Together, they "allow everyone to understand Chinese writers' exploration of Chinese society", she said. That can be rare to find in today's China, where the space for political and artistic expression has shrunk drastically over the last decade under President Xi Jinping. Spiritual pollution Historically, science fiction has had a turbulent relationship with Chinese authorities -– it effectively disappeared during the Cultural Revolution and then was banned as "spiritual pollution" in the 1980s. Though it returned, it remained relatively obscure. Writer Regina Kanyu Wang said it was only at university that she met other fans -- together they formed one of the smaller clubs on campus. Sci-fi was not taken seriously, and seen as something for children and young adults, Chen said. That had its advantages. "There was a lot of freedom... because nobody was reading science fiction, (authors) could just do whatever they wanted," the University of Zurich's Jessica Imbach told AFP. The global success of the "Three-Body" series changed everything, catapulting its epic themes of technological prowess and the fate of humanity into the public consciousness. "Whether you like science fiction or not, the social reality we are facing is becoming more and more like science fiction," said Yu Xuying from Hong Kong Metropolitan University. "We live in a high-tech era. And then your daily life is completely technological," she said. The pace of digital change in China, already fast, was accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Cash has all but disappeared, and stringent health regulations further enhanced the state's significant surveillance capacity. The international interest spike in Chinese sci-fi is also related to real-world concerns, Chen believes. "I think there are different layers of reasons for the phenomenon," he said. "But a major one is the rising economic and technological power of China on the world stage." A good vehicle China's government has been happy to capitalize on all this. "At a national level, science fiction is a good vehicle for conveying the country's discourse on its science and technology strength," said Yu. It can also help "highlight the relationship between the Chinese dream (a Xi-era aspirational slogan) and science", she said. Authorities have put their money where their mouth is. The nebula-shaped Chengdu Science Fiction Museum, designed by the renowned Zaha Hadid Architects, was built at lightspeed in just a year to coincide with Worldcon. The event, historically fan-led and funded, this year was a "capitalistic initiative, coming top-down from the Chinese government", said Chen. "They want sci-fi to be the name card of the city, showing China's openness and inclusiveness to the world," he said. Government attention comes with potential risk. "The Three-Body Problem" has a different structure in English, with the narrative beginning with a violent Cultural Revolution scene. In the original Chinese, it was buried halfway through the book to make it less conspicuous, the translator Ken Liu was told. Liu told the New York Times in 2019 that increasingly, "it's gotten much harder for me to talk about the work of Chinese authors without... causing them trouble". Some works he has translated into English, deemed too sensitive, have never been published in Chinese at all. "If you're very marginal if you have low print numbers in China, then it's OK, you have more leeway. If you're doing a mega big-budget movie... it's much more complicated," said Imbach. "That's what's now also happening with science fiction," she said. "As it's becoming more mainstream, there is increased scrutiny." The post Chinese sci-fi steps into the spotlight appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
China thrashes Uzbekistan to reach women s football last eight in Asiad
HANGZHOU, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China crushed Uzbekistan 6-0 to reach the quarterfinals of women's football competition in the Asian Games here on Thursday. Wang Shanshan broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute to gift China a 1-0 lead in the first half. Wang added another five minutes after the break, before Shen Mengyu and Chen Qiaozhu netted to make it 4-0 for China just before the hour mark. Substitute Y.....»»
Sub bolsters Taiwan defense vs China
Taiwan unveiled its first domestically built submarine on Thursday to bolster the island’s defenses against China. President Tsai Ing-wen presided over the launch ceremony for the Hai Kun or “Narwhal” in English at CSBC Corporation's Kaohsiung shipyard, according to Taiwan News. Tsai performed the bottle-breaking ritual and named the submarine, which means “giant fish” in Chinese. National Security Council Secretary General Wellington Koo, American Institute in Taiwan Director Sandra Oudkirk, Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai and other dignitaries attended the ceremony, CNA reported. Strongly opposed by Beijing for her refusal to accept China’s authority over the island, Tsai launched a submarine program in 2016 with the aim of delivering a fleet of eight vessels. Construction on the first started in 2020 by CSBC Corporation, a company specializing in container ships and military vessels. Carrying a price tag of $1.5 billion, the submarine’s displacement weight is about 2,500 to 3,000 tons, with its combat systems and torpedoes sourced from the United States defense company Lockheed Martin. Ben Lewis, a US-based independent analyst who focuses on the Chinese military’s movements around the island, said the Taiwanese submarine can pose a threat to Chinese amphibious assault and troop transport capabilities. “They have practised extensively the use of civilian vessels to augment their existing troop delivery platforms, and a submarine could wreak havoc on vessels not designed for naval warfare,” Lewis said. The submarine will still need at least three years to become operational, Zivon Wang, a military analyst at Taipei-based think tank the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, said. “The launch... does not mean that Taiwan will become very powerful right away but it is a crucial element of Taiwan’s defense strategy and a part of our efforts to build deterrence capabilities,” Wang said. China’s state-run Global Times on Monday published an op-ed saying Taiwan’s submarine deployment plan to block the Chinese military was “daydreaming.” “The plan is just an illusion of the island attempting to resist reunification by force,” it said. The post Sub bolsters Taiwan defense vs China appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Illegally detained Taiwanese nationals rescued
The National Bureau of Investigation on Sunday reported that its operatives from the NBI- Cebu District Office and NBI-Central Visayas Regional Office rescued eight Taiwanese nationals who were allegedly detained by their employer. NBI-CEBDO agent-in-charge Arnel Pura told DAILY TRIBUNE that the rescue operation was based on the complaint lodged by a certain Glendelle Grace Salvador Nerviol for illegal detention of Chong Yi Wei who sent pictures that he was physically harmed. Taiwanese national Dixon Zhang was identified as supervisor and one of the trusted men of their employer or “Boss,” reportedly a Taiwanese national, too. The rescued Taiwanese were identified Edison Lin; Yufeng Mountain; Wang Dongxin; Peter Wang; Zhang Ende, Wang Kai Cheng; Wan Tianhai and Chen Yee Chen. NBI-CEBDO Special Investigator IV Bienvenido Panican disclosed that the victims had been illegally detained since 5 September 2023, adding that the NBI received information from the live-in partner of one of the Taiwanese nationals who had been unlawfully held by his employer for over two weeks. Panican cited that NBI operatives conducted surveillance and finally rescued the detained Taiwanese nationals from a rented house at Paseo Eulala, Maria Luisa Park in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City. Reports disclosed that these individuals were involved in an online shopping scam, targeting victims in Taiwan and China. Cases for violation of Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code or serious illegal detention and violations of Republic Act 10591 or Illegal Possession of Firearms and Commission on Elections Resolution 10918 against Zhang and the Filipino driver-bodyguard identified as Ian Diabordo Naces. The post Illegally detained Taiwanese nationals rescued appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Defector’s plea: Don’t send me back
A Chinese activist who fled to Taiwan is holed up in a local airport, pleading authorities no to send him back to his country. “I hope to seek asylum in the United States or Canada. I request for friends to appeal to Taiwan’s government to please not send me back to China,” Chen Siming wrote on X from the transit area of Taoyuan International Airport. Chen said he fled China three months ago because the methods used by authorities “to maintain stability are becoming more brutal.” He also alleged that Chinese authorities had detained him in the past, confiscated his phone, and conducted a psychiatric evaluation on him. “I could no longer endure (it)... so I fled China on 22 July,” Chen wrote. “On September 22, I finally arrived in Taiwan, the island of freedom.” According to Radio Free Asia, Chen first traveled to Laos after leaving China in July, before crossing into Thailand. But due to worries about being sent to immigration prison in Thailand — a country with a track record of deporting dissidents — he bought a return ticket to China that transited via Taiwan, RFA said. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council has not responded to requests for comment on Chen’s current status. In 2019 two Chinese dissidents spent more than four months trapped in limbo at Taiwan’s airport after fleeing China. WITH AFP The post Defector’s plea: Don’t send me back appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Biggest-ever Asian Games ready for liftoff in China after Covid delay
The biggest Asian Games in history, boasting about 12,000 competitors -- more than the Olympics -- will open on Saturday in the Chinese city of Hangzhou after a year's delay because of Covid. Athletes including world and Olympic champions will fight for medals in 40 sports from athletics, swimming and football to eSports and bridge. Nine sports, among them boxing, break dancing and tennis, will serve as qualifiers for next year's Paris Olympics. The Games were supposed to take place last September but were postponed because of China's strict zero-Covid rules, before China's ruling Communist Party abruptly abandoned the policy. The 19th edition of the Games, which were first held in New Delhi in 1951, throws together competitors from 45 countries and territories across Asia and the Middle East. For China, which hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics in a Covid-secure "bubble" in Beijing, it is a chance to show off its organizational, sporting and technological prowess after the pandemic years cut the country off from the sporting world. "We have overcome a lot of challenges but we are now fully conditioned to hold a successful Games," Chen Weiqiang, chief spokesperson for the Games, said on Wednesday. Sport meets politics The Games will be staged at 54 venues -- 14 newly constructed -- mostly in Hangzhou but also extending to cities as far afield as Wenzhou, 300 kilometres (180 miles) south. The centerpiece is the "Big Lotus" Olympic stadium with a capacity of up to 80,000 where athletics and the opening and closing ceremonies will be staged. President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony and meet Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad there, along with other visiting leaders, Chinese state media says. Assad is making his first visit to ally China since the war erupted in Syria in 2011. Russian President Vladimir Putin likewise attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, along with Xi, and weeks later launched the invasion of Ukraine. Hangzhou, a city of 12 million people an hour's bullet train from Shanghai, is famed in China for its ancient temples, gardens and its beloved West Lake. It is also the unofficial home of China's tech industry, notably the birth place of Jack Ma's Alibaba. The Games will showcase some of the latest tech to come out of the city, including driverless buses, robot dogs and facial recognition. China medal dash Hosts China have topped the medals table at every Asian Games since 1982 and are expected to do so again by the time the curtain comes down on October 8. They should reign in swimming, with Qin Haiyang fresh from his heroics at the world championships, where he announced himself as the new undisputed breaststroke king. The 24-year-old swept all three men's events and set a new world record in the 200m. In athletics, another of the most closely watched sports, India's Olympic and world champion Neeraj Chopra will defend his Asian Games javelin crown. His nearest competitor should be world silver medalist Arshad Nadeem from arch-rivals Pakistan and the countries are also on a collision course in cricket and hockey. ESports, in what is seen as a step toward Olympic inclusion one day, will make its full Asian Games debut having been a demonstration sport five years ago. Lee Sang-hyeok, better known as "Faker", has god-like status in League of Legends and will lead the South Korean charge at the futuristic-looking China Hangzhou Esports Centre. There is an added incentive which has caused controversy in South Korea -- winning gold will exempt them from having to do military service. A feature of the Asian Games is that it includes sports that are a little more quirky than the Olympics. Xiangqi -- also known as "Chinese chess" -- the card game bridge and the ancient wrestling discipline of kurash are all on the menu. Although the Games officially open on Saturday, the sporting action began on Tuesday, when North Korea returned to major international competition for the first time since the pandemic with a 2-0 win over Taiwan in men's football. The post Biggest-ever Asian Games ready for liftoff in China after Covid delay appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Chinese youths trade city-living for ceramics
China's "Porcelain Capital" Jingdezhen is attracting droves of young people drawn to the city of artisans in search of an escape from the urban rat race among its ceramics workshops. The picturesque eastern city home to China's best-known porcelain has seen an influx of young professionals seeking to learn an ancient art taught there for more than a thousand years. Times are tough for young people in China, with youth unemployment at record highs, sluggish economic growth and, for many, the opportunities their parents' generation enjoyed are simply not attainable. But in Jingdezhen they find something different: low rent, a slower pace of life and a proximity to nature in a city of just 1.6 million inhabitants, very small by Chinese standards. From her one-bedroom apartment on the seventh floor, He Yun, a 28-year-old illustrator, enjoys a panoramic view of the surrounding green hills for just 500 yuan ($68) a month. She arrived in Jingdezhen in June after being laid off and found a place where she didn't feel "any pressure". "I came because on social media everyone was saying that it was a great place for craft fans, like me, and that there was a scent of freedom," she said. "When I lost my job, I stayed at home and got depressed. But once I arrived here, I found that it's super easy to make friends." "No more need to set the alarm in the morning," she smiled. "I have zero pressure now!" - 'Looking for meaning' - A typical day for He starts with a laid-back breakfast, before heading to a workshop to make her ceramic candle holders and necklaces, which are then fired in one of the city's many kilns. "At the end of the afternoon, we go to the surrounding villages and swim in the streams to relax," she said. "I put my work on Xiaohongshu" -- a Chinese app similar to Instagram -- "where people contact me to buy. But we mainly sell at the market," she said. Between trendy cafes, boutiques and stands offer glasses, bowls, cups, teapots, plates, necklaces or earrings. Chen Jia, 24 with dyed red hair, makes feminist pendants in the shape of sanitary napkins. A music graduate who arrived in June, her first jobs as a piano teacher and in a milk tea shop and cafe weren't to her liking. "I am looking for meaning in my life," she said. "Many young people today no longer want to clock in at work at a fixed time." China's transformative economic rise was built on the backs of a growing middle class, who were promised they could enjoy the trappings of prosperity and give their children a better life if they worked hard enough. But the country's millennials and Gen Z have faced altogether different prospects: youth unemployment has reached a record level, exceeding 20 percent according to official figures, and pay is low. It's in that context that the "tangping" counterculture has thrived. Literally meaning "lying flat", it's come to represent a general rejection of society's expectations, giving up a great career and money to concentrate on a simple life and pleasures. And Jingdezhen has become a haven for those seeking just that. At the Dashu pottery school, around 20 students work with clay on their pottery wheels or chat as they sip iced lattes. Training costs 4,500 yuan a month ($617), a very affordable price. "Many young people cannot find work" explained the 39-year-old director who calls herself Anna. "They come here to reduce their anxiety." "Ceramics are very accessible. In two weeks, they can produce simple works and sell them at markets." - 'New life' - One of them, Guo Yiyang, 27, resigned in March from a well-paid job as a computer programmer. After working overtime for years, he said he wanted to "take a breather". "In big cities... you just work. You don't have your own life," he said, adding he "never again" sees himself working that way. "The desire for another way of life" is also what motivated Xiao Fei, 27, a former interior designer who resigned and came to Jingdezhen in June. "I didn't have time for myself," she said. "I came home tired and I didn't want to talk to others." "I feel happier, more free and I meet people who have the same ideals." According to Chinese media, 30,000 young urbanites lived in Jingdezhen in 2022. Few stay long-term but Xiao already knows that she doesn't want to go back. "After tasting this new life, I don't want to go back to an office job at all." ehl-oho/je/mtp/sn/pbt © Agence France-Presse The post Chinese youths trade city-living for ceramics appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
SB19, Hori7on to join more K-pop stars at 2023 AAA
P-pop acts SB19 and Hori7on are joining the 2023 Asia Artist Awards night at the Philippine Arena on 14 December. Aside from the initial list of artists, local producer Pulp Live World revealed that Seventeen’s BSS unit, Oneus, Kingdom, ATBO and LUN8 are the latest additions to the confirmed K-pop stars that will grace the event. So far, the K-pop and K-drama stars who have confirmed their attendance are actors Lee Jun-ho, Jung Sung-il, Kim Young-dae, Lee Jun-young, Ahn Dong-goo, Park Jae-chan, Moon Sang-min, Yoo Seon-ho, Ahn Hyo-seop, Kim Se-jeong, Kim Seon-ho, Moon Ga-young, Lee Joon-hyuk, Lee Dong-hwi, Cha Joo-young, Lee Eun-sam, Lee Jun-ho, Jung Sung-il, Kim Young-dae, Lee Jun-young, Ahn Dong-goo, Park Jae-Chan, Moon Sang-min and Yoo Seon-ho. [caption id="attachment_185655" align="aligncenter" width="1146"] SB19[/caption] They will be joined by Kpop groups NewJeans, LE SSERAFIM, NMIXX, ZEROBASEONE, BoyNextDoor, Stray Kids, ITZY, The Boyz, Kwon Eun-bi, &TEAM, Kim Jae-joong, DinDin, Lee Young-ji, STAYC, Kep1er, KARD, Yao Chen, Dreamcatcher, Ash Island, Lapillus and TEMPEST. IVE’s Jang Won-young of IVE, Kang Daniel and ZEROBASEONE’s Sung Han-bin will serve as hosts. Tickets for 2023 AAA will be available on 12 November. The post SB19, Hori7on to join more K-pop stars at 2023 AAA appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
More artists to attend Asia Artist Awards in Phl
Organizers of the 2023 Asia Artist Awards announced on Monday the next set of artists who will attend the awards ceremony to be held on 14 December 2023 at the Philippine Arena. Seventeen’s subunit BSS, SB19, HORI7ON, Oneus, Kingdom, ATBO, and LUN8 are the latest additions to the roster of star performers who will grace the much-awaited event, to be emceed by Jang Won-young of IVE, Sung Han-bin of Zerobaseone, and Kang Daniel. This brings to 44 the total number of artists and performers who have confirmed their presence at the 2023 Asia Artist Awards, which will be held for the first time in the Philippines. Here are the artists who will attend the awards night, as of 18 September: ACTORS: Lee Joon-hyuk Lee Dong-hwi Cha Joo-young Lee Eun-sam Kim Seon-ho Ahn Hyo-seop Kim Se-jeong Moon Ga-young Lee Jun Ho Jung Sung-il Kim Young-dae Lee Jun-young Moon Sang-min Yoo Seon-ho Ahn Dong-goo Park Jaechan SINGERS: Stray Kids The Boyz ITZY Kwon Eun-bi &TEAM NewJeans Le Sserafim BoyNextDoor, NMIXX Zerobaseone. Kim Jaejoong DinDin Lee Young-ji Dreamcatcher KARD Ash Island Yao Chen STAYC Kep1er Tempest Lapillus Seventeen’s BSS SB19 HORI7ON Oneus Kingdom ATBO LUN8 The post More artists to attend Asia Artist Awards in Phl appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
BI arrested 3 foreign fugitives in Cavite
The Bureau of Immigration arrested one Taiwanese and two Nigerian nationals in the back-to-back operations it conducted this week. The BI Fugitive Search Unit (BI-FSU), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Regional Office - National Capital Region, National Bureau of Investigation - Task Force Against Illegal Drugs (NBI-TFAID), and government intelligence units conducted a joint buy-bust operation on September 13 at a popular mall in Imus, Cavite, which led to the arrest of two Nigerian nationals who were identified as John Chukwuemeka Enuka, age 41, male; and Ugochukwu Christopher Nwabufo, age 31, male. The two were arrested after being caught selling illegal drugs in violation of Section 5 in relation to Section 26, paragraph B, and Section 11, Article II of Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, during the operation conducted by the authorities. The authorities seized a large stash of marijuana and heroin with an estimated street value of P8 million. The BI said that based on their records, Nwabufo has already overstayed his visa. He arrived in the Philippines in 2022 and never left the country. Menuka, Enuka has worked for a company in the country, but he failed to present his documents during checks. Moreover, on 14 September in General Trias, Cavite, BI-FSU operatives arrested a Taiwanese national identified as Chen Kai-Wun, a 55-year-old male. According to the BI, the Taiwanese authorities designated Chen as a wanted alien and declared him a fugitive from justice. Based on the report of the Taiwanese authorities, Chen is the subject of a warrant of arrest issued by the Shilin District Prosecutors Office in violation of the Controlling Guns, Ammunition, and Knives Act of Taiwan in May 2023. He is allegedly the leader of a notorious Taiwanese arms trafficking organization. Chen is also involved in facilitating the illegal entry of other Taiwanese fugitives into the country. Nwabufo and Enuka were detained at the PDEA National Office in Quezon City, while Chen will remain in the BI Warden Facility in Camp Bagong, Taguig City pending his deportation proceedings. The post BI arrested 3 foreign fugitives in Cavite appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
The Youth America Grand Prix: Filipina duo stands out in Olympics of ballet
Tiffany Jocelyn Ong and Chloe ZiQian Chen stood out in this year’s The Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) held in Tampa, Florida in April, as they landed in Top 12......»»
Marina Adams debuts in Asia
Longlati Foundation presents Marina Adams’ debut institutional solo exhibition in Asia, In the Garden of My Memory, featuring 11 large-scale acrylic and watercolor paintings and four scroll intaglio monoprints on paper inspired by Chinese folded books. Poetry is a crucial component of Adams’ artistic practice, intertwining language and painting, opening a pathway through its ineffable sensory experience. In the Garden of My Memory is derived from Ted Berrigan’s poem “Tambourine Life.” Perhaps this phrase struck Adams in her studio on a summer afternoon and leapt off the page. Here, it functions as a cryptic invitation, inviting viewers to journey through the artist’s vibrant realm of memories constructed through colors. Like poetry, Adams’ artworks don’t provide specific imagery or narratives, yet they vividly convey her perspectives and contemplation of the world. Impressions drawn from nature, music, fabrics, architecture and literature are transformed into dynamic colors, humming with the physical resonance of individual existence through the canvas as if its structure were a kind of grammar, and light and shadow serve as its tones. These pieces traverse the boundaries of diverse logical fields, directly reaching the channels of individual senses. [gallery columns="2" size="full" ids="180075,180073"] Adams’ creations should be understood as abstract expressionism within the realm of color field painting. On the one hand, she follows the tradition of color field painting, emphasizing the ontological superiority of overall form and color in the painting, thereby discarding the once-prominent symbols and rhetoric. On the other hand, distinct from the typical serenity and meticulousness of color field paintings, she consistently infuses her colors with spiritual energy, imbuing her paintings with vitality. They undoubtedly emanate from the artist’s bodily rhythm, interpreted into live abstractions through brushes and pigments. Adams earned degrees from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, and Columbia University in New York. She is the recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship (2016) and the Award of Merit Medal for Painting from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2018). She has participated in various solo and group exhibitions, including the Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York (2021), Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth (2020), Camden Arts Centre, London (2016) and CUE Art Foundation, New York (2008). Marina Adams’ work is in the collections of the MoMA, New York, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Longlati Foundation, Shanghai. She lives and works in New York, Bridgehampton, Long Island and Parma in Italy. Co-founded by David Su and Zihao Chen in 2017, Longlati Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Hong Kong. It aims to contribute to the development of contemporary art in its diversity. Curated by Jenny Chen Jiaying, In the Garden of My Memory runs from 14 September to 25 October on the third floor of Longlati Foundation, 117 Hong Kong Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, China. The post Marina Adams debuts in Asia appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Storm ‘Haikui’ heads to China
Typhoon “Haikui” toppled hundreds of trees, damaged coastal roads and dumped torrential rains across Taiwan Monday before it weakened into a severe storm and headed for southern China. “Haikui” had initially appeared to depart the island but made a second landfall early Monday in southwest Kaohsiung, before it was downgraded to a severe tropical storm as it moved out into the Taiwan Strait. There were no reports of deaths, but destruction was seen in coastal Taitung, a mountainous county in lesser-populated eastern Taiwan where the storm directly hit the day before. “I’ve lived here for so long and I have never seen such wind gusts,” said Chen Hai-feng, 55, a village chief in Taitung’s Donghe township, where he was with an early-morning work crew removing trees from a road. Although “Haikui” is considered to be less severe than previous storms, Chen said it felt more powerful. “It came straight through us.” Workers carefully maneuvered diggers to move downed tree branches and electrical wiring that had snapped and splayed across the rain-drenched road. Further north in coastal Changbin township, workers ferried massive concrete blocks to a coastal highway that had partially collapsed from the force of waves slamming into it, hoping they would absorb the impact. Heavy orange-colored barriers were placed near the edge to prevent cars from skidding over on the slippery roads. “Haikui” — the first typhoon landfall in Taiwan in four years — forced the evacuation of more than 7,000 people across the island, particularly from landslide-prone mountainous regions. Hundreds of flights were cancelled and businesses were closed. More than 217,000 households temporarily lost power through Sunday and overnight. By midday Monday, 11,000 homes still had no electricity, while schools and businesses remained closed in 14 cities as torrential rain bucketed down. A forecaster with Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said “Haikui” initially appeared to track away from the island and out to sea but made a second landfall in Kaohsiung at around 4 a.m. During the night “the center of the typhoon was almost circling” the port city, but as it moved along the coastline “the structure of the typhoon is damaged by the terrain and gradually weakens,” she said. with afp The post Storm ‘Haikui’ heads to China appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Storm Haikui heads to China after double landfall in Taiwan
Typhoon Haikui toppled hundreds of trees, damaged coastal roads and dumped torrential rains across Taiwan Monday before it weakened into a severe storm and headed for southern China. Haikui had initially appeared to depart the island but made a second landfall early Monday in southwest Kaohsiung, before it was downgraded to a severe tropical storm as it moved out into the Taiwan Strait. There were no reports of deaths, but destruction was seen in coastal Taitung, a mountainous county in lesser-populated eastern Taiwan where the storm directly hit the day before. "I've lived here for so long and I have never seen such wind gusts," said Chen Hai-feng, 55, a village chief in Taitung's Donghe township, where he was with an early-morning work crew removing trees from a road. Although Haikui is considered to be less severe than previous storms, Chen said it felt more powerful. "It came straight through us." Workers carefully maneuvered diggers to move downed tree branches and electrical wiring that had snapped and splayed across the rain-drenched road. Further north in coastal Changbin township, workers ferried massive concrete blocks to a coastal highway that had partially collapsed from the force of waves slamming into it, hoping they would absorb the impact. Heavy orange-colored barriers were placed near the edge to prevent cars from skidding over on the slippery roads. Haikui -- the first typhoon landfall in Taiwan in four years -- forced the evacuation of more than 7,000 people across the island, particularly from landslide-prone mountainous regions. Hundreds of flights were cancelled and businesses were closed. More than 217,000 households temporarily lost power through Sunday and overnight. By midday Monday, 11,000 homes still had no electricity, while schools and businesses remained closed in 14 cities as torrential rain bucketed down. A forecaster with Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said Haikui initially appeared to track away from the island and out to sea but made a second landfall in Kaohsiung at around 4:00 am (2000 GMT Sunday). During the night "the center of the typhoon was almost circling" the port city, but as it moved along the coastline "the structure of the typhoon is damaged by the terrain and gradually weakens", she said. By mid-day, the storm had moved southwest of Taiwan's outlying island of Penghu, but was still bringing torrential rain and strong winds to the south and northeast. In picturesque Hualien county, waterfalls cascaded down the lush cliffs along Taiwan's east coast, while market vendors in Keelung -- a northern port city surrounded by mountains -- braved the rain to sell fruit to raincoat-clad shoppers. In Kaohsiung, the local government reported hundreds of toppled trees and flooding in dozens of locations, although the situation was easing as the storm departed and the weather conditions improved. Nearly 80 people suffered injuries during the typhoon, according to authorities, though they were minor -- mostly due to fallen trees and car accidents. The post Storm Haikui heads to China after double landfall in Taiwan appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
3 foreign nationals arrested at NAIA
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported on Saturday, 2 September, the arrest of three foreign nationals at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for violation of immigration laws. On 31 August, the Bureau arrested a Thai national identified as Teerasade Phutthichotiruksa, a 43-year-old male, who attempted to depart via a Thai Airways flight to Bangkok, Thailand, but the Bureau intercepted him during a primary inspection. Phutthichotiruksa, according to the BI-NAIA, showed up for his immigration procedures at NAIA Terminal 3 for departure, but the immigration officer found anomalies and irregularities in the stamps placed on his passport. This prompted the BI officer to submit his document for further inspection through the BI’s Forensic Documents Laboratory. The BI forensic team inspected his travel documents and confirmed that the stamps shown on his passport were counterfeit. As a result, Phutthichotiruksa was arrested, read his rights, and immediately transferred to the BI Warden Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, while awaiting deportation. BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said that this case underscores the importance of the immigration officers' vigilance and expertise in detecting fake documents. Their officers are trained to spot irregularities and will arrest foreign nationals who attempt to use fraud to be able to travel. Meanwhile, on 1 September, the BI also arrested of two Chinese fugitives in separate incidents. At the NAIA Terminal 3, the Bureau arrested Chen Changdian, 32, after he attempted to depart the country via Scoot Airlines bound for Singapore. Upon primary inspection, the immigration officer found out that Chen’s name was in the BI’s database of derogatory records. Chen is the subject of an Interpol red notice after being wanted for prosecution in the United Arab Emirates for the crime of murder in 2022. Based on the BI database, Chen arrived in the country in May 2022, but his name was only tagged as a fugitive by Interpol in November 2022. While at the NAIA Terminal 1, the Bureau arrested a Chinese woman who was identified as Lyu Yani, 30 years old, after trying to depart the country via a Philippine Airlines flight bound for Bangkok. According to the BI-NAIA, Lyu's name was also found on Interpol's list of wanted criminals. Lyu was tagged by Interpol as a fugitive wanted for the crime of running a gambling house. Both Chinese nationals were transferred to the BI Warden Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City. All three fugitives are currently facing deportation cases, and their names will be included on the BI blacklist, which will bar them from entering the Philippines in the future. The post 3 foreign nationals arrested at NAIA appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Taiwan’s leader says 2024 defense budget to hit record $19-B
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said Monday defense spending would reach a record 606.8 billion Taiwan dollars ($19 billion) in 2024, a demonstration of the island's "determination to ensure national security". Tsai said in a statement defense spending was "expected to reach 2.5 percent of the GDP". The proposed spending would be a 3.5 percent increase from 2023's $586.3 billion Taiwan dollars, according to official data. "Taiwan must continue to bolster its capabilities to defend itself and demonstrate its self-defense determination to ensure national security and interests while seeking more international support," she said. Democratic Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which views the island as its own territory to be taken one day. Tsai was briefed by Premier Chen Chien-jen about the 2024 government budget, which will be released by the cabinet on Thursday and then submitted to parliament for approval. Beijing has intensified its saber-rattling and ramped up political and economic pressure on Taiwan since Tsai, who views the island as independent, came to power in 2016. The Chinese military launched massive military exercises last year after Nancy Pelosi, then-speaker of the US House of Representatives, visited Taiwan, and again in April when Tsai transited through the United States. China staged fresh drills around the island on Saturday, a day after Tsai's deputy William Lai, also a frontrunner in the upcoming presidential election, returned from a visit to Paraguay with two stopovers in the United States. Taiwan's defense ministry said 45 warplanes had entered its air defense zone during the exercises, which also included nine Chinese vessels. The post Taiwan’s leader says 2024 defense budget to hit record $19-B appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
‘Strong enough now’: BRICS nations eye global geopolitical shift
Leaders of the BRICS emerging economies, which account for about a quarter of the world's wealth, meet in Johannesburg this week looking to widen the bloc's influence and push for a shift in global geopolitics. South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to host China's President Xi Jinping, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for the annual three-day summit starting on Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin also will join remotely. Putin decided against attending in person as he is the target of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant that South Africa is in theory bound to enforce if he sets foot in the country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will travel to Johannesburg instead. Representing billions of people across three continents, with economies undergoing varying levels of growth, the BRICS share one thing in common -- disdain for a world order they see as serving the interests of rich Western powers. "The traditional global governing system has become dysfunctional, deficient and missing in action," Chen Xiaodong, the Chinese ambassador to Pretoria said at a briefing on Friday, adding the BRICS are "increasingly becoming a staunch force in defending international justice". There is growing interest in the bloc -- at least 40 countries have expressed interest in joining and 23 of those have formally submitted applications to become BRICS members. 'Polarized world' Anil Sooklal, South Africa's ambassador-at-large for Asia and the BRICS, told AFP on Friday that one of the reasons countries are lining up to join is "the very polarised world we live in, that has been further polarised by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, and where countries are being forced to take sides". "Countries in the South don't want to be told who to support, how to behave, and how to conduct their sovereign affairs. They are strong enough now to assert their respective positions," added Sooklal. The BRICS have raised hope for countries looking to restructure the global "architecture", he said. "The major markets are now in the Global South... but we are still on the margins in terms of global decision-making." Lebogang Legodi, the international politics lecturer at the University of Limpopo, agrees that many states keen on joining the group "are seeing BRICS as an alternative to the current hegemony" in world affairs. Around 50 other leaders will attend a "friends of BRICS" program during the summit, which will be held at a convention center in the heart of Johannesburg's Sandton, historically referred to as the richest square mile on the continent. This year's gathering is themed "BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development, and inclusive multilateralism". It comes at "a critical inflection point," said Steven Gruzd of the Africa-Russia Africa project at the South African Institute of International Affairs. "The current multilateral system is under strain," he said. A decision on expanding the BRICS membership is expected at the end of the summit, according to Sooklal. An upbeat Ramaphosa told a meeting of the ruling ANC party in Johannesburg on Saturday that "we are going to have a fantastic BRICS summit". He said the presence of so many heads of state "goes to show the influence and the impact that South Africa" has in the world. But experts closely watching the BRICS aren't very optimistic about the meeting's outcomes. "I don't think this summit will yield those dramatic results because the power is still with Western countries. China is rising, but is not the dominant power yet," said SAIIA's Gruzd. Formally launched in 2009, the BRICS now account for 23 percent of global GDP and 42 percent of the world's population. The combined bloc represents more than 16 percent of the world's trade. The post ‘Strong enough now’: BRICS nations eye global geopolitical shift appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
China mass stabbing kills 2
A 20-year-old man with a history of mental illness went on a stabbing spree in China’s southwestern Yunnan province Tuesday, killing two people and injuring seven others. Luoping County police said the mother of the suspect surnamed Chen was the first to be attacked at home. He then went outside stabbing eight people successively, the police said in a statement. Seven victims are being treated in hospital. Police arrested Chen after the attacks, which occurred around 8 a.m. in the county’s Lashan urban residential district. While guns are strictly controlled in China, there has been a spate of mass stabbings in recent years. Last month, six people were killed and one wounded in a kindergarten stabbing in southern China’s Guangdong province. WITH AFP The post China mass stabbing kills 2 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»