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One of the top stories from this past week was a knife attack in which an eight-year-old girl was knifed at an elementary school in Taipei. The girl died less than a day after she was randomly attacked by an intruder.
The suspect is a 29-year-old man identified as Kung Chung-an. He alerted the police shortly after the attack and was arrested near the crime scene. Preliminary questioning by the police indicated that the suspect picked his victim simply because she was alone and away from the classroom.
On Saturday President Ma Ying-jeou said he was shocked by the incident. He also directed the Cabinet to step up security measures around schools.
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Also this past week, opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen arrived in Los Angeles on Friday for a 12-day visit to the United States.
During the trip, Tsai will call on leaders in the political and academic circles, as well as important figures in the high-tech industry. After she leaves Los Angeles, Tsai will travel to Chicago, Washington, D.C, New York, Houston and San Francisco before returning to Taiwan on June 9.
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And finally, this past week, Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien won the best director award at the 68th Cannes Film Festival. He received the honor for his latest film “The Assassin.”
Set in the Tang dynasty, the film is about a general’s daughter who was kidnapped as a girl and trained to become an assassin. After a decade, she is sent back to her hometown with the mission of killing her cousin and first love. The film stars Taiwanese actors Su Chi and Chang Chen.
While some critics found the film a bit difficult to grasp, Hou said that watching a film is not just about the plot and details. He said the impression the film gives sometimes carries more weight. Hou is known for his elliptical storytelling and long, elegant takes with minimal camera movement.
This is Hou’s first martial arts movie. Critics have said it is both the most beautiful and the slowest martial arts film ever made.