President Tsai Ing-wen officially lit up the centerpiece of the Taiwan Lantern Festival Feb. 15 in the southern city of Kaohsiung while taking the opportunity to express appreciation for like-minded partners' support during the pandemic.
The success of this year’s event, which is being held at Weiwuying Metropolitan Park and Love River Bay through Feb. 28, can be attributed to joint efforts of the Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and Kaohsiung City Government, Tsai said. She described last week’s launch of a stunning aerial show featuring 1,500 drones flying in formation against the night sky as a highlight of this annual event.
The drone show demonstrates the country’s gratitude to international friends who helped Taiwan during the pandemic, she said, adding that COVID-19 vaccine donations by the Czech Republic, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and the U.S. followed Taiwan’s donation of pandemic-prevention materials to like-minded partners worldwide over the past two years.
Tsai also pledged the government’s continued support in developing cultural and high-tech industries in southern Taiwan. According to Tsai, government agencies at all levels are sparing no effort in bolstering related facilities in Kaohsiung, as evidenced by the opening of Kaohsiung Music Center and National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts—also known as Weiwuying—as well as the promotion of Asia New Bay Area and Ciaotou Science and Technology Park.
First staged in 1990 to celebrate the country’s folk custom of observing the first full moon of the lunar calendar, the annual event has been held at a different location around Taiwan since 2001 to promote balanced regional development. Next year the event will be held in Taipei City. (YCH-E)
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