At the 2025 WIC Asia-Pacific Summit, Zhang Donggang, Party secretary of Renmin University of China, offered his insights on how digital finance is reshaping global finance and how education is crucial for developing talent to drive transformation in this field. He emphasized Hong Kong's important role in the development of the digital economy and the significance of China's education system in nurturing innovative talent for the future. Zhang highlighted the need for interdisciplinary education to support the growth of the digital finance sector. He also stressed the significance of open-source collaboration in promoting global prosperity. Click to see the full story! HomeDestinationsInterestsTop Places to Travel by MonthSearchMenuBest time to go to Taiwan Become a part of the traditional ceremony of ship burning promises a week of rich traditions and captivating rituals the festival is a blend of historical significance and local customs offering visitors an immersive experience of Taiwanese culture The festival begins with a grand procession that leaves the Donglong Temple marking the start of an eight-day celebration participants invite protective gods to Earth and perform a fire-walking ceremony to cleanse themselves this ritual symbolizes purification and protection is pulled around the town by volunteers to absorb bad spirits Visitors can observe locals attaching paper with wishes and messages to the ship a practice believed to send their hopes and desires to the gods The festival culminates on the last day with the dramatic boat-burning ceremony Hundreds of tonnes of ghost paper are prepared on the beach This act is intended to send the plague gods away The boat-burning ceremony is scheduled to occur between 2 am and 5 am on October 5 people would leave the beach as the boat burns many now stay to witness the spectacle until the ship is completely consumed by flames often overshadowed by nearby attractions like Kenting National Park and Little Liuqiu is a hidden gem that retains its authentic charm Visitors can explore the town's scenic harbor The festival site is easily accessible from major cities located approximately 30 miles (50 km) away The town offers various accommodation options ranging from traditional inns to modern hotels catering to different preferences and budgets Donggang boasts several attractions worth exploring Nature enthusiasts can visit Dapeng Bay National Scenic Area known for its stunning landscapes and recreational activities The town is also famous for its culinary treasures Visitors can indulge in these local delicacies experiencing the rich flavors of Donggang’s seafood cuisine Nine people died and more than 300 were evacuated after a fire at a hospital in Pingtung County yesterday morning Emergency services were called after heavy smoke was seen billowing from the lower floors of Block D at Antai Tian-Sheng Memorial Hospital in Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港) Photo courtesy of the Pingtung County Government via CNA Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the incident police and other emergency response units arrived at about 7:40am and assisted medical personnel to evacuate wheelchair-bound and bedridden patients from the hospital complex with the rain and strong winds brought by Typhoon Krathon adding to the difficulty of the operation Pingtung County Fire Department chief Lee Pin-cheng (李彬正) said that 324 patients had been evacuated safely but eight resident patients were found dead Many people were treated for smoke inhalation and other minor injuries adding that 113 people were transferred to other hospitals in Pingtung and Kaohsiung Pingtung prosecutors launched an investigation into what was one of the worst fires in Taiwan in recent decades to determine the cause of blaze including to determine whether it was deliberately lit or due to negligence and to verify legal liability and compensation A check conducted later indicated that the blaze started in an electricity distribution room on the second floor after an air compressor caught fire possibly due to unstable power supply caused by the effects of Typhoon Krathon hospital founder Su Ching-Chuan (蘇清泉) said a legislator-at-large for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said that the hospital undergoes monthly inspections by firefighters A chimney effect caused smoke and sparks to reach the upper floors adding that he would provide assistance and financial compensation to the families of the nine people who died and those who were injured Breaking news for everyone's consumption The results of FDA’s testing are used to help the agency better understand PFAS in commercially available foods and identify foods or types of foods that would benefit from further targeted surveys to help ensure a safe and nutritious food supply The FDA will release results of the surveys after completion.  As the FDA continues to update and enhance its approach and process for evaluating and monitoring chemicals adding firms to an import alert is part of the agency’s commitment to reducing harmful exposure to chemical contaminants like PFAS in the food supply The firms are the first to be added to Import Alert 99-48 and are manufacturers or processors of clams with China listed as the country of origin Those firms include Donggang Hongxing Food Co Ltd; Donggang City Tianhong Aquatic Foodstuff Co Ltd; and Donggang City Gangzhu Foodstuff Co The FDA anticipates that as the agency continues sampling activities at the border additional firms may be added to the import alert and shipments will be automatically held at the border without inspection The agency has taken the approach of assessing whether the type and level of PFAS found in food may pose a health concern such that the food may be deemed adulterated and the toxicity of the specific type of PFAS The FDA says it is important to note that industry is responsible for the safety of its products and must comply with applicable regulations to ensure the safety of commercially available seafood like processed clams Seafood processors have a responsibility to determine whether there are food safety hazards that are reasonably likely to occur including chemical contamination such as PFAS for each kind of fish and to identify and implement preventive measures to control those hazards (To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News,click here) Party secretary of the Renmin University of China principal of the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School jointly signed an intercollegiate cooperation agreement between the university and the school in Kibaha The two sides also jointly held a themed seminar at which Zhang delivered a speech about the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee Chijoriga said that the exploration of the modernization path is one of the focuses of civilization exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and Africa and the experience of Chinese modernization has attracted more and more attention from African countries "China has been committed to helping African countries actively explore the road of development and revitalization and sharing relevant experience and practices with young and middle-aged African cadres which has provided useful reference for solving regional development issues in Africa," she said Chijoriga also said that the signing of the agreement will drive the school to a new level so that more students can understand China's development experience and think about how to promote their own country to achieve better development Zhang said that the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School is an important achievement of the exchanges between China and Africa on governance and the university has maintained close exchanges with the Leadership School for a long time "The signing of the agreement today marking the cooperation between the two institutions ushered in a new starting point entered a new stage and reached a new height," he said Zhang also noted that the university is willing to work with the Leadership School to carry out various forms of cooperation between teachers and students in scientific research "The two institutions should continue to improve the institutional platform of openness and increase the vitality of mutual learning among civilizations," Zhang said after a fire sent smoke billowing through a hospital in Pingtung County Pingtung County Fire Department received reports of a fire at the Antai Tian-Sheng Memorial Hospital in Donggang Township at 7:40 am The fire department dispatched 46 vehicles and 116 personnel to the scene of the fire Firefighters discovered the source of the fire in a power distribution room on the second floor including wards filled with elderly patients More than 300 people were evacuated from the hospital Police and firefighters systematically searched the hospital floor by floor suspected to have succumbed to smoke inhalation injury Most of the deceased are reported to be bedridden elderly patients who were found on the 10th and 11th floors One of the deceased was an employee who was found in a stairwell Ambulances from Pingtung County Fire Department originally on standby for typhoon disaster response were used to transport patients to other hospitals in Pingtung County and Kaohsiung City Twelve of the patients from the intensive care unit were on respirators The district prosecutor has dispatched specialist fire and criminal forensics personnel to investigate the cause of the fire Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. this site is affected by big-tech/social media censorship Get Instant notification of latest news by email Taiwan English News is published by Phillip Charlier who is based in New Taipei City, Taiwan. If you have news tips or issues you want covered: Let me know The Pingtung County Government on Wednesday broke ground for a “king boat” cultural museum in Donggang Township (東港) which would be the first museum to tell the stories of the 300-year-old plague-expelling religious ritual involving specially built vessels celestial lord Wang Ye was called upon to protect the new building has been designed to enable visitors to appreciate the exquisite art of shipbuilding Pingtung County Commissioner Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said The triennial Donggang King Boat Ceremony features a vessel built for Wang Ye which is paraded through the town to expel and prevent the spread of plagues The event is the largest of its kind in Taiwan and dates back about 300 years King boats are adorned with detailed paintings of dragons and phoenixes weaving together historical stories and figures from Chinese mythology the king boat is taken to a local beach at midnight and set on fire to represent the casting out of plagues The museum’s architectural design conveys the impression of a ship at sea with an opening at the top symbolizing a dragon’s eye on a boat and curved lines at the building’s base representing waves the Pingtung Cultural Affairs Department said in a statement The new museum would include an immersive theater to introduce visitors to the king boat culture through new technology a 240-seat multifunctional audio-visual room amid bone-chilling temperatures in Donggang red strawberries hidden under leaves in a greenhouse placed on foam trays and packed in cardboard boxes at the strawberry packing factory at the Donggang Nongdao Agriculture and Forestry Technology Co "Over 300 boxes of strawberries were sent overseas today they will be placed on the shelves of supermarkets in Singapore Thailand and other countries," said Ma Tingdong overseas orders for fresh strawberries have surged." At the 20th China International Agricultural Trade Fair in November the company reached cooperation agreements with many foreign customers from Singapore The company's fresh strawberry exports reached 2 million yuan ($281,000) in December which first cultivated strawberries over a century ago is now China's largest strawberry production and export base According to the Donggang agricultural and rural bureau the strawberry production area in the city exceeds 13,000 hectares with an annual production of 300,000 metric tons sales of fresh strawberries in Donggang reached more than 2 billion yuan "Donggang's strawberries are popular for their plump shape and sweet taste thanks to the favorable natural conditions for strawberry planting," said Jiang Zhaotong deputy director of Liaoning Strawberry Research Institute of Science and Technology This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page It had been a successful year: a new plant had opened and the company had doubled the amount of squid that it exported to the United States One aspect of the company’s success seems to have been its use of North Korean workers who are sent by their government to work in Chinese factories A seafood trader who does business with Jinhui recently estimated that it employed between fifty and seventy North Koreans Videos posted by a company representative show machines labelled in Korean and workers with North Korean accents explaining how to clean squid the company played songs that are popular in Pyongyang including “People Bring Glory to Our Party” (written by North Korea’s 1989 poet laureate) and “We Will Go to Mt Paektu” (a reference to the widely mythologized birthplace of Kim Jong Il) and the country’s flag billowed behind them; in the audience Drone footage played at the event showed off Jinhui’s twenty-one-acre which has processing and cold-storage facilities and what appears to be a seven-floor dormitory for workers The company touted a wide array of Western certifications from organizations that claim to check workplaces for labor violations When videos of the party were posted online “Aren’t you prohibited from filming this?” many companies in China rely on a vast program of forced labor from North Korea (Jinhui did not respond to requests for comment.) The program is run by various entities in the North Korean government including a secretive agency called Room 39 which oversees activities such as money laundering and cyberattacks and which funds the country’s nuclear- and ballistic-missile programs because it is based in the ninth room on the third floor of the Korean Workers’ Party headquarters.) Such labor transfers are not new North Korea sent some forty thousand workers to China A portion of their salaries was taken by the state providing a vital source of foreign currency for Party officials: at the time a Seoul-based think tank estimated that the country made as much as $2.3 billion a year through the program after North Korea tested a series of nuclear and ballistic weapons the United Nations imposed sanctions that prohibit foreign companies from using North Korean workers passed a law that established a “rebuttable presumption” categorizing work by North Koreans as forced labor unless proven otherwise and levying fines on companies that import goods tied to these workers China is supposed to enforce the sanctions in a similar manner there are currently as many as a hundred thousand North Koreans working in the country according to Chinese officials running pandemic quarantines there were some eighty thousand North Koreans just in Dandong I set out with a team of researchers to document this phenomenon We watched hundreds of cell-phone videos published on social-media sites the presence of North Koreans was explicit Others were examined by experts to detect North Korean accents Reporting in China is tightly restricted for Western reporters But we hired Chinese investigators to visit factories and record footage of production lines through another group of investigators and their contacts to two dozen North Koreans—twenty workers and four managers—who had recently spent time in Chinese factories Their anonymous responses were transcribed and sent back to me described conditions of confinement and violence at the plants Many work gruelling shifts and get at most one day off a month Several described being beaten by the managers sent by North Korea to watch them “It was like prison for me,” one woman said and curse if we talked.” Many described enduring sexual assault at the hands of their managers “They would say I’m fuckable and then suddenly grab my body and grope my breasts and put their dirty mouth on mine and be disgusting,” a woman who did product transport at a plant in the city of Dalian said “The worst and saddest moment was when I was forced to have sexual relations when we were brought to a party with alcohol.” The workers described being kept at the factories against their will and being threatened with severe punishment if they tried to escape A woman who was at a factory called Dalian Haiqing Food for more than four years said I identified fifteen seafood-processing plants that together seem to have used more than a thousand North Korean workers since 2017 China officially denies that North Korean laborers are in the country “They are easy to distinguish,” a Dandong native wrote in a comment on Bilibili In a video from a plant called Dandong Yuanyi Refined Seafoods a dozen women perform a synchronized dance in front of a mural commemorating Youth Day The video features a North Korean flag emoji and the caption “Beautiful little women from North Korea in Donggang’s cold-storage facility.” (The company did not respond to requests for comment.) Remco Breuker a North Korea specialist at Leiden University “Hundreds of thousands of North Korean workers have for decades slaved away in China and elsewhere enriching their leader and his party while facing unconscionable abuse.” An investigator visited a plant called Donggang Haimeng Foodstuff and found a North Korean manager sitting at a wooden desk with two miniature flags The walls around the desk were mostly bare except for two portraits of the past North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il Portions of this image have been blurred to protect sources.Photograph from The Outlaw Ocean ProjectIn late 2023 an investigator hired by my team visited a Chinese plant called Donggang Xinxin Foodstuff He found hundreds of North Korean women working under a red banner that read “Let’s carry out the resolution of the 8th Congress of the Workers’ Party.” (The company did not respond to requests for comment.) Soon afterward the investigator visited a nearby plant called Donggang Haimeng Foodstuff The manager took our investigator to the workers’ cafeteria to eat a North Korean cold-noodle dish called naengmyeon and then gave him a tour of the processing floor Several hundred North Korean women dressed in red uniforms and white rubber boots stood shoulder to shoulder at long metal tables under harsh lights The factory has exported thousands of tons of fish to companies that supply major U.S (A spokesperson for Donggang Haimeng said that it does not hire North Korean workers.) China aggressively conceals the existence of the program a political-science professor at University College Dublin said that workers have a hard time making their conditions known “They’re in a country where they may not speak the language and have no experience in contacting journalists,” he said after my team’s investigators visited several plants authorities distributed pamphlets on the country’s anti-espionage laws Local officials announced that people who try “to contact North Korean workers or to approach the workplaces of North Korean workers will be treated as engaging in espionage activities that endanger national security and will be punished severely.” They also warned that people who were found to be working in connection with foreign media outlets would face consequences under the Anti-Espionage Act The border between China and North Korea.Dandong The Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge links Dandong to the North Korean city of Sinuiju and serves as a platform from which Chinese residents can view the North Koreans living six hundred yards away The Friendship Bridge is one of the Hermit Kingdom’s few gateways to the world Some trade with North Korea is allowed under U.N and nearly seventy per cent of the goods exchanged between that country and China travel across this bridge At least one department store in Dandong keeps a list of products preferred by North Korean customers named for the date on which the armistice ending the Korean War was signed The city is home to a museum about the conflict officially called the Memorial Hall of the War to Resist U.S Chinese tourists purchase bags of biscuits to toss to children on the North Korean side of the river Government officials carefully select workers to send to China screening them for their political loyalties to reduce the risk of defections a person must generally have a job at a North Korean company and a positive evaluation from a local Party official “These checks start at the neighborhood,” Breuker said applicants under twenty-seven years of age who are unmarried must have living parents according to a report from the South Korean government; applicants over twenty-seven must be married North Korean authorities even select for height: the country’s population is chronically malnourished and the state prefers candidates who are taller than five feet one to avoid the official embarrassment of being represented abroad by short people applicants go through pre-departure training which can last a year and often includes government-run classes covering everything from Chinese customs and etiquette to “enemy operations” and the activities of other countries’ intelligence agencies (The North Korean government did not respond to requests for comment.) The governments of both countries coördinate to place workers The logistics are often handled by local Chinese recruitment agencies A video posted on Douyin this past September announced the availability of twenty-five hundred North Koreans and a commenter asked if they could be sent to seafood factories A post on a forum advertised five thousand workers; a commenter asked if any spoke Mandarin and an interpreter.” A company called Jinuo Human Resources posted “I am a human-resources company coöperating with the embassy and currently have a large number of regular North Korean workers.” Several people expressed interest (The company did not respond to requests for comment.) because they often come with contracts promising salaries of around two hundred and seventy dollars a month (Similar work in North Korea pays just three dollars a month.) But the jobs come with hidden costs Workers usually sign two- or three-year contracts North Korean workers wear different uniforms than Chinese workers we couldn’t tell if one disappeared,” a manager said One seafood worker described how managers cursed at her and flicked cigarette butts the women sleep in bunk beds in locked dormitories who spent four years processing clams in Dandong estimated that more than sixty per cent of her co-workers suffered from depression “We regretted coming to China but couldn’t go back empty-handed,” she said Workers are forbidden to tune in to local TV or radio They are sometimes allowed to leave factory grounds—say to go shopping—but generally in groups of no more than three Mail is scrutinized by North Korean security agents who also “surveil the daily life and report back with official reports,” one manager said Sometimes the women are allowed to socialize In a video titled “North Korean beauties working in China play volleyball,” posted in 2022 women in blue-and-white uniforms exercise on the grounds of the Dandong Omeca Food seafood plant (The company that owns the plant did not respond to requests for comment.) A commenter wrote Factories typically give the women’s money to their managers who take cuts for themselves and the government and hold on to the rest until the workers’ terms in China end a North Korean defector who now works for Radio Free Asia said that companies tell workers their money is safer this way because it could be stolen in the dormitories workers often see less than ten per cent of their promised salary One contract that I reviewed stipulated that around forty dollars would be deducted each month by the state to pay for food More is sometimes deducted for electricity Managers also hold on to wages to discourage defections that if they try to defect “they will be immediately caught by Chinese CCTV cameras installed everywhere.” This past October Chinese authorities repatriated around six hundred North Korean defectors “China does not recognize North Korean defectors as refugees,” Edward Howell “If they are caught by Chinese authorities they will be forcibly returned to the D.P.R.K. where they face harsh punishment in labor camps.” Chinese companies have significant incentives to use North Korean workers They’re typically paid only a quarter of what local employees earn And they are generally excluded from mandatory social-welfare programs (regarding retirement Dandong’s Commerce Bureau announced a plan to create a cluster of garment factories that would use North Korean labor The bureau’s Web site noted that all such workers undergo political screenings to make sure they are “rooted and upright.” “The discipline among the workers is extremely strong,” it added “There are no instances of absenteeism or insubordination toward leadership and there are no occurrences of feigning illness or delaying work.” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to questions for this piece but last year the Chinese Ambassador to the U.N wrote that China has abided by sanctions even though it has sustained “great losses” as a result A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently said that China and North Korea have “enjoyed long-standing friendly ties,” adding stop heightening the pressure and sanctions and take effective steps to resume meaningful dialogue.” North Koreans face difficult circumstances across industries more than two thousand workers rioted in Jilin Province breaking sewing machines and kitchen utensils when they learned that their wages would be withheld Many North Koreans—perhaps thousands—work in Russian logging in brutal winter weather without proper clothing Hundreds have been found working in the Russian construction industry; some lived in shipping containers or in the basements of buildings under construction because better accommodations were not provided One recounted working shifts that lasted from 7:30 A.M In preparation for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups thousands of North Koreans were sent to build stadiums and luxury apartments A subcontractor who worked alongside the North Koreans in Russia told the Guardian that they lived in cramped spaces with as many as eight people packed into a trailer in an atmosphere of fear and abuse like “prisoners of war.” to import goods made with North Korean labor Some eighty per cent of seafood consumed in America and much of it comes from China through opaque supply chains To trace the importation of seafood from factories that appear to be using North Korean labor and the codes that are stamped on seafood packages to monitor food safety ten of these plants have together shipped more than a hundred and twenty thousand tons of seafood to more than seventy American importers which supplied grocery stores including Walmart The seafood from these importers also ended up at major restaurant chains which supplies almost half a million restaurants as well as the cafeterias on American military bases and McDonald’s did not respond to requests for comment said their suppliers claimed that they currently do not source from the Chinese plant in question and added that audit reports showed no evidence of forced labor.) Two of the plants that investigators from my team visited—Dandong Galicia Seafood and Dalian Haiqing Food—had an estimated fifty to seventy North Korean workers apiece One worker who has been employed at Galicia said that the managers are “so stingy with money that they don’t allow us to get proper medical treatment even when we are sick.” Galicia and Haiqing have shipped roughly a hundred thousand tons of seafood to American importers since 2017 and Haiqing also shipped to an importer that supplies the cafeterias of the European Parliament (Dalian Haiqing Food said that it “does not employ overseas North Korean workers.” Dandong Galicia Seafood did not respond to requests for comment said that audits “found no evidence or even suspicion” of North Korean labor at the plant said that they would sever ties with the plant while they conducted their own investigations A spokesperson for the European Parliament said that its food contractor did not supply seafood from the plant.) Breuker told me that American customers quietly benefit from this arrangement “This labor-transfer system is for North Korea and China as economically successful as it is morally reprehensible,” he said “It’s also a boon for the West because of the cheap goods we get as a result.” North Korea doesn’t just export seafood workers; it also exports fish—another means by which the government secures foreign currency Importing North Korean seafood is forbidden by U.N which encourages companies to skirt the rules Sometimes Chinese fishing companies pay the North Korean government for illegal licenses to fish in North Korea’s waters Sometimes they buy fish from other boats at sea: a letter from a North Korean proposed selling ten thousand tons of squid to a Chinese company in return for more than eighteen million dollars and five hundred tons of diesel fuel Sometimes the seafood is trucked over the border a Chinese man who said his last name was Cui posted a video on Douyin advertising crabs from North Korea “The goods can’t be shipped,” Cui responded with laughing emojis he explained that he operated a processing plant in North Korea and gave information on the timing of shipments that he planned to send across the border he said that he had stopped importing North Korean seafood in 2016 (though the videos were actually from last year) and I don’t care who you are.” My team found that seafood from North Korea was imported by several American distributors which supplies more than fifteen thousand Asian restaurants in the U.S (HF Foods did not respond to requests for comment.) Chinese companies often claim that they are in compliance with labor laws because they have passed “social audits,” which are conducted by firms that inspect worksites for abuses But half the Chinese plants that we found using North Korean workers have certifications from the Marine Stewardship Council and sets standards for granting sustainability certifications but only to companies that have also passed social audits or other labor assessments told me that these social audits are conducted by a third party and that “We make no claims about setting standards on labor.”) Last year one of my team’s investigators visited a seafood-processing plant in northeastern China called Dandong Taifeng Foodstuff The company has been designated a “national brand,” a status reserved for the country’s most successful companies and supplies thousands of tons of seafood to grocery stores in the U.S our investigator was given a tour by a North Korean manager more than a hundred and fifty North Korean women wore head-to-toe white protective clothing and red gloves that went up to their elbows quick,” one woman said to the other members of her small group (Taifeng did not respond to requests for comment.) Just weeks after that visit the plant was recertified by the Marine Stewardship Council who works at the Peterson Institute for International Economics of social audits within the seafood industry “The basic stance appears to be ‘See no evil.’ ” Skepticism of such audits is growing State Department said that social audits in China are generally inadequate for identifying forced labor in part because auditors rely on government translators and rarely speak directly to workers Auditors can be reluctant to anger the companies that have hired them and workers face reprisals for reporting abuses Customs and Border Protection advised American companies that a credible assessment would require an “unannounced independent third-party audit” and “interviews completed in native language.” Liana Foxvog who works at a nonprofit called the Worker Rights Consortium argues that assessments should involve other checks too But she noted that most audits in China fall short even of C.B.P.’s standards who helped draft the American law that banned goods produced with North Korean labor argues that the government is not doing enough to enforce it government will need to put more pressure on American companies and those companies need to be more diligent about their suppliers and their supply chains a Republican congressman from New Jersey and a specialist on China noted that social audits “create a Potemkin village.” He added “The consequence is that millions of dollars are going to Chinese plants using North Korean workers and that money then goes right into the hands of Kim Jong Un’s regime which uses the money to arm our adversaries and repress its own people.” when I set out to contact North Koreans who had been sent to China Western journalists are barred from entering North Korea and citizens of the country are strictly prohibited from talking freely to reporters I hired a team of investigators in South Korea who employ contacts in North Korea to get information out of the country for local and Western news outlets—for example The investigators compiled a list of two dozen North Koreans who had been dispatched to a half-dozen different Chinese factories The investigators’ contacts then met with these workers in secret so that the workers wouldn’t know one another’s identity The meetings usually occurred in open fields where it’s harder for security agents to conduct surveillance The workers were told that their responses would be shared publicly by an American journalism outlet They faced considerable risk speaking out; experts told me that But they agreed to talk because they believe that it is important for the rest of the world to know what happens to workers who are sent to China The North Korean contacts transcribed their answers by hand and then took photos of the completed questionnaires and sent them North Koreans who are still in China were interviewed in a similar fashion impossible to fully verify the content of the interviews But the responses were reviewed by experts to make sure that they are consistent with what is broadly known about the work-transfer program and in line with interviews given by North Korean defectors the investigators checked in on the interviewers and interviewees “They kicked us and treated us as subhuman,” the worker who processed clams in Dandong said Asked if they could recount any happy moments A few said that they felt relieved when they returned home and got some of their pay “I was happy when the money wasn’t all taken out,” the woman who did product transport in Dalian said One woman said that her experience at a Chinese plant made her feel like she “wanted to die.” Another said that she often felt tired and upset while she was working but kept those thoughts to herself to avoid reprisals “I hated the military-like communal life.” The most striking pattern was the women’s description of sexual abuse seventeen said that they had been sexually assaulted by their North Korean managers They described a range of tactics used to coerce them into having sex Some managers pretended to wipe something from their uniforms Some called them into their offices as if there were an emergency Others asked them to serve alcohol at a weekend party they touched my body everywhere like playing with toys,” a woman said The woman who did product transport in Dalian said “When they suddenly put their mouths to mine I wanted to throw up.” If the women didn’t comply The worker who was at Haiqing for more than four years said He calls me a ‘fucking bitch.’ ” Three of the women said that their managers had forced workers into prostitution they flirt with us to the point of nausea and force us to have sex for money and it’s even worse if you’re pretty,” another worker at Haiqing said “Even when there was no work during the pandemic the state demanded foreign-currency funds out of loyalty so managers forced workers to sell their bodies.” The worker who spent more than four years at Haiqing said “They forced virgin workers into prostitution claiming that they had to meet state-set quotas.” The pandemic made life more difficult for many of the women some found themselves trapped far from home North Korean workers sometimes pay bribes to government officials to secure posts in China many borrowed these funds from loan sharks typically between two and three thousand dollars North Korean workers were unable to pay back their loans and loan sharks sent thugs to their relatives’ homes to intimidate them Some of their families had to sell their houses to settle the debts two North Korean women at textile plants killed themselves The worker who told me that she wanted to die said that such deaths are often kept hidden so they keep it under wraps to keep it from being leaked to other workers or Chinese people,” she said and the border between China and North Korea reopened some three hundred North Korean workers boarded ten buses in Dandong to go back home Police officers lined up around the buses to prevent defections some of the women can be seen hurriedly preparing to load large suitcases onto a neon-green bus then riding away across the Friendship Bridge another three hundred boarded a passenger train to Sinuiju Workers who return face intense questioning by officials “They asked about every single thing that happened every day from morning to evening in China and agents,” the worker who processed clams in Dandong explained the North Korean government began planning to dispatch its next wave of workers a North Korean defector who works for Radio Free Asia labor brokers have requested that Chinese companies pay a large advance; they were being asked to pay ahead of time because “Chinese companies cannot operate without North Korean manpower.” Some North Korean workers have yet to go home One woman said that she has spent the past several years gutting fish at a processing plant in Dalian She described working late into the night and getting sores in her mouth from stress and exhaustion I had asked about the worst part of her job “When I am forced to have sex.” She also described a sense of imprisonment that felt suffocating they will treat you like an insect,” she said “Living a life where we can’t see the outside world as we please is so difficult that it’s killing us.” ♦ This piece was produced with contributions from Joe Galvin A long-ago crime, suddenly remembered A limousine driver watches her passengers transform The day Muhammad Ali punched me What is it like to be keenly intelligent but deeply alienated from simple emotions? Temple Grandin knows The harsh realm of “gentle parenting.”  Retirement the Margaritaville way Fiction by F. Scott Fitzgerald: “Thank You for the Light.”  Sign up for our daily newsletter to receive the best stories from The New Yorker. The Wang Ye Worshiping Ceremony in Pingtung County culminated early yesterday with the burning of a purpose-built King Boat on a beach in Donggang Township (東港), signifying the deity being sent off. The festival — held once every three years with the aim to prevent the spread of plagues — is one of the biggest Wang Ye festivals in Taiwan and dates back 300 years. However, due to COVID-19 concerns, this year’s edition was held with pandemic prevention measures in place and in front of a limited audience. The festival, hosted by Donglong Temple, comprised events over eight days, from Oct. 24 until yesterday. At noon on Saturday, the giant King Boat, more than 4m in height and almost 14m in length, set off on a “royal tour” to “catch” the evil spirits of diseases and disasters along the way. The tour was welcomed by thousands of worshipers, wishing to stave off bad luck and receive blessings. Up to 10,000 pilgrims from outside the township joined the procession, the local police precinct estimated. Some households prepared paper dolls, representing themselves, as well as sacrifices and incense, to ask the deity to stave off bad luck when the boat passed their homes, while others set off firecrackers. The King Boat, which cost about NT$10 million (US $359,453) to build, was transported to the beach at midnight and set on fire at 5:30am yesterday, symbolizing the “casting out” of plagues and the celestial lord returning to heaven. This year’s King Boat was also a work of art, decorated with detailed paintings of dragons and phoenixes, as well as depictions of traditional stories and figures from Chinese mythology. The ancient burning boat ritual of Taiwan is said to have protected the island for decades. In 2021, can it stave off Covid-19? Alicia Chen and Lily Kuo report I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice The ancient ritual begins just before dawn. On a beach in southern Taiwan, thousands gather as volunteers hoist a 45ft boat, lavishly painted in gold and red, onto the top of a mountain of joss paper. The crowd watches silently as organisers invite the gods on board. “Prepare to light the firecrackers,” a voice intones over a loudspeaker The boat-burning ceremony in Donggang – a traditional Taoist festival that honours guardian deities known as Wang Ye – has protected Taiwan for decades Some say the ceremony helped stave off the worst of the SARS virus in 2003 while others say it has helped scare away typhoons The Wang Ye are believed to patrol the world every three years hunting disease and evil This year, Wang Ye worshippers hope the ceremony – eight days of religious rites culminating in the burning of a carefully crafted “king boat” – might help end the coronavirus pandemic. For Taiwan, which is just emerging from its worst Covid-19 outbreak so far, the festival represents a return to normal life after months of restrictions. “I hope the lords will curb the pandemic and make it vanish from sight in Taiwan and the whole world,” says Chang Jung-hui, a 65-year-old Donggang native who has participated in the ceremony since he was in kindergarten. “It is a miracle!” says Lin Yi Chen, 35, one of the volunteers in the ceremony, who is delighted that the event has been able to go ahead. “It’s a sign of the power of the gods.” More than 30,000 volunteers and onlookers have come to this year’s festival, according to police – fewer than in previous years because of crowd limits. Attendees have travelled from across Taiwan, including fishermen who have returned from months at sea for the festival. Others have taken time off work to attend. “It’s OK to lose your job, but you cannot miss the ceremony,” says Lin Zhi-long, 48, one of the volunteers. The Wang Ye boat burning, which honours Song dynasty scholars who were immortalised after their deaths at sea, dates back at least 300 years. In Taiwan, it originated with Chinese immigrants who brought the rituals in hopes of protecting themselves from disease and demons in their new homeland. This time, the atmosphere is one of joy after months of restrictions on social gatherings. Near the Donglong temple, streets are crammed with stalls selling food and souvenirs. Inside the temple, people light incense and toss divining blocks, seeking answers from the gods. The king boat is paraded through the town to collect disease and bad spirits, and families light firecrackers as the procession passes their homes. Recent graduates, dressed in their gowns, snap photos in front of the boat. “People are so tired. They are hoping for an event that can inspire them,” says Lin Yi-chen, 35, a public servant who has travelled from Taipei, the capital. Li Mei-pin, 56, sits next to the temple, packing rice and beans in plastic bags – food for the gods on their quest to hunt disease and evil. Li, who runs a local fishing business, says she has been praying since May that the ceremony would go ahead, to rid the world of the coronavirus. “I’m hoping that after the boat-burning ritual, everything will be fine,” she says. Residents caution that the ritual is not without risks. During the boat-burning ceremony, attendees must not turn away, step on the joss paper or make loud noises for fear of inviting bad spirits. Children and pregnant women are advised not to attend. Waiting on the beach for the ceremony to begin, attendees nap against trees or stand silently. Residents say maintaining the ritual is their duty. “The fire is the best way to eliminate the virus,” says Chen Yi-hong, 54, a photographer from Donggang who has documented the ceremony for a decade. “In Donggang, every resident has our own celestial mission. We’re all the children of Wang Ye,” he says. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies {"adUnitPath":"71347885/_main_independent/gallery","autoGallery":true,"disableAds":false,"gallery":[{"data":{"title":"taiwan-ceremony-b0aa95d6-4217-11ec-a3aa-0255edc02eb7.jpg","description":"The Wang Ye boat is engulfed in flames on a beach in Donggang, southern Taiwan, on Oct. 31. MUST CREDIT: ","caption":"The Wang Ye boat is engulfed in flames on a beach in Donggang, southern Taiwan The Wang Ye boat is engulfed in flames on a beach in Donggang, southern Taiwan Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks amid a bone-chilling temperature in Donggang in northeast China's Liaoning Province workers were busy picking red and ripe strawberries hidden under the leaves in the greenhouse The fresh-picked strawberries were then gently weighed and packed in cardboard boxes in the strawberry packing factory of the Donggang Nongdao Agriculture And Forestry Technology Co. waiting to be shipped overseas via vehicles and planes they would be placed on the shelves of supermarkets in Singapore overseas orders for fresh strawberries surged." At the 20th China International Agricultural Trade Fair held in November 2023 the company reached cooperative intentions with many foreign clients from Singapore The company's fresh strawberry exports reached 2 million yuan (about 281,000 U.S while the value is expected to exceed 3 million yuan in January Starting to cultivate strawberries a century ago the icy northeast city of Donggang is now China's largest strawberry production and export base According to the Donggang Agricultural and Rural Bureau the strawberry production area in Donggang has reached 200,000 mu (about 13,333 hectares) with an annual production of 300,000 tonnes the sales of fresh strawberries in Donggang reached more than 2 billion yuan Read the entire article at Xinhua Net FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 HortiDaily.com Donggang in Northeast China's Liaoning province is taking advantage of policy support an industrial cluster and advanced technologies to develop the strawberry industry in an effort to pursue Xiaokang a local farmer who contracted to run six strawberry greenhouses in 2017 now has an average annual income of 2 million yuan ($286,200) "My money paid back within one year after I contracted for the strawberry greenhouses and my life got better and better," he said Cai noted that the first batch of the popular strawberries which often come to the market at the beginning of October every year The average price in winter is over 80 yuan per kg Renowned as "China's first county for strawberries" Donggang is among the national high-quality strawberry production bases along with a reputation of being a pollution-free agricultural goods production base The strawberry cultivation industry has over 80 years of history in the county serving as a local traditional dominant planting variety and a key factor in agricultural development Donggang's strawberry industry experienced rapid development in recent years thanks to government's favorable policies cooperation between leading enterprises and farmer households The city is now China's largest strawberry production and export base Data from the publicity department of the Donggang municipal Party committee showed that the city now owns over 400 strawberry cooperatives the strawberry production area in Donggang reached 9,867 hectares with production of 230,000 metric tons The output value was 4.6 billion yuan and the yearly export earnings reached $35 million The brand value of Donggang strawberries totaled 7.8 billion yuan "The strawberry industry has become a leading industry for local farmers to increase income and is an important supporting force for city development," said Mu Xiufeng deputy director of the publicity department of the Donggang municipal Party committee "Donggang is in the humid monsoon climate zone The humidity and sunlight are suitable for strawberry cultivation The appearance and taste of the strawberries are attractive," said Wang Gangyi a professor at the College of Economics and Management at the Northeast Agricultural University the industrial cluster effect of the strawberry industry is beneficial in screening good varieties and forming benign competition "The development of the strawberry industry helps local farmers to strive for Xiaokang and the industrial cluster contributes to variety popularization and technology promotion local banks can offer targeted support," he added a local farmer who contracted to run strawberry greenhouses said: "Having strawberry greenhouses gives me a sense of security worrying about whether I could have farm work to do the next day." I make 400,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan every year I think I have achieved Xiaokang," she said The sales volume of strawberries from Donggang fell at the start of the COVID-19 epidemic due to blocked transportation The local government and industrial associations helped farmers explore sales channels and worked with e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and JD to enhance promotion Merchants used online platforms such as WeChat and Douyin to sell strawberries Wang said that such business mode can also be promoted to other rural areas in North China setting an example for rural revitalization Photographer Hwang Gyu-tae poses in front of his work “Evolution-Pixel” at Donggang International Photo Festival “Pixel: Big Brother” shows a world where everyone is watched by CCTV cameras Hwnag Gyu-tae’s “Reproduction,” which the photographer describes as a world where cloned creatures are waiting to be released from a factory physicist Anne Meeussen and chemists Nick Gerrits and Elliot Mock: all four are receiving a Rubicon grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) This grant for young talent will enable them to spend two years doing research at a foreign university The announcement comes at a good time: international travel is slowly but surely picking up again And experience abroad is an important step in the career of many scientists NWO emphasises in their press release that researchers only start working abroad when the signals are green.  The Faculty of Science scores well this year with four scholarships for talent from the Faculty former PhD candidate Kamal Tehrani also received a Rubicon Tehrani obtained his PhD at the Institute of Biology Leiden at the end of last year.  Below is an overview of the four research projects:  Little is known about how plasma catalysis works in this project Gerrits will develop various methods to investigate the building blocks of plasma catalysis Gerrits will visit the University of Antwerp for this research.  The primordial Universe offers a unique opportunity to test the physics of the microscopic world with observations on cosmic scales Wang will investigate new ways to measure symmetries in fundamental physics Wang will spend two years at the University of Cambridge for this research 將軍澳東港城增設新春主題裝置「花滿東港．玉兔迎福」，遠遠望過去經已看見一片紅粉霏霏的櫻花花海，夢幻之餘又充滿日系感覺！ 場內包括以櫻花樹配合和風建築的園林、粉紅拱橋，而庭園正中有日式涼亭，掛上神社特有的注連繩與紙垂。神社後方是一扇日式屏風，配上花卉點綴，亦是另一個打卡位！ 庭園內還可以找到玉兔的蹤影，其設計參考了日本過年時擺放的陶製「開運干支置物」，每隻均有不同形態，象徵愛情、事業及健康運。之後可以逛逛室內年宵花市，當中有逾百款蘭花及年花，讓你點綴今個新年！ 「花滿東港．玉兔迎福」新春裝置日期：即日至 2 月 26 日時間：上午 10 時至下午 10 時地點：將軍澳東港城一樓中庭 新春花展會日期：即日至 1 月 21 日時間：上午 11 時至下午 9 時地點：將軍澳東港城一樓中庭 allowing deity Wang Ye's return to heaven 4446TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The triennial King Boat ceremony finale in Pingtung's Donggang occurred at 4 a.m when a boat loaded with ghost money and other offerings was set ablaze The spectacle was witnessed by hundreds of devotees, who believe the burning of the King Boat is a way of sending the deity Wang Ye (王爺) back to the Heavenly Court. Begun in 1684, the ceremony allowed the community to unite and banish evil spirits. It has evolved into a celebration of peace and security, per UDN the ceremony was listed as a culturally significant event in Taiwan's heritage Government officials have pledged more support and resources helping preserve the tradition and educate future generations An important part of the ceremony is towing the wooden King Boat to Qifeng Beach 10 kilometers away the faithful accompanied the boat on foot or scooter for its final voyage The King Boat and palanquins carrying deities arrived at the final destination at 1:30 a.m Temple officials hoisted the boat into position and loaded it with ghost money and other sacrificial items it was taboo for women to take part in the procession The population decline eased the gender-based taboo and women now play a more active role in the ceremony Donglong Temple fired cannons at 4:15 a.m. symbolizing the cleansing and banishment of bad luck and plague The top mast eventually collapsed around 5:41 a.m Wang Ye's followers in Nanzhou hold a ceremony to welcome the new king and send off the old king The ceremony allows Wang Ye to travel freely between heaven and earth.  Pingtung County Magistrate Pan Men-an (潘孟安) announced the government would begin the construction of a King Boat cultural museum Pan said it would present a one-to-one scale King Boat and a technology-driven immersive theater Donggang’s Wangye Festival: Protection and blessings Taiwan’s 1st tuna catch of the year weighs 269 kilograms Taiwan fishing boat returns after days of no contact after quake Taipei MRT reminds passengers of drinking water ban Taiwan dollar hits NT$29 per US dollar triggering currency exchange rush Magnitude 5.5 earthquake strikes off east Taiwan Central Bank steps in as Taiwan dollar posts strong single-day gain Vietjet flight makes unscheduled landing in Taiwan Four Vietnamese residents found dead in northern Taiwan Taiwan ranked 2nd most innovative country in world US tech earnings spark Taiwan stock market rally Taiwan ranks 1st in Asia on World Press Freedom Index US Congress members urge Somalia to reverse Taiwan passport ban The Sixth China (Dandong Donggang) Strawberry Cultural Festival has provided a marketing platform for farmers at the exhibition showcasing his selected strawberries The Strawberry Cultural Festival opened ceremoniously on April 24 in Donggang city the production base of China’s quality strawberries It is an exhibition of high caliber of its kind and a promotion platform for the Chinese strawberry industry president of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) such as “County with leading crop farming business,” “China’s No.1 strawberry county,” and “Liaoning province strawberry production base” to the city’s first group of pilot counties the earliest strawberry production base in the country has planted strawberries for nearly 100 years Donggang had cultivated about 150,000 mu strawberries The output values amounted to 1.05 billion yuan The city’s acreage of strawberries accounted for 7.9% of the national total Its output reached 15% of the national total and 80% of the province’s total Donggang is also the biggest strawberry export base in the country annually processing 40,000 tons and exporting 30,000 tons Its export volumes and strawberry product export take up more than 20% of the national total Donggang strawberries have been listed by Ministry of Agriculture as one of top 100 name brands in China It enjoyed great fame as strawberry plantation region The exhibition hall of the sixth China (Dandong Donggang) Strawberry Cultural Festival is lined with assorted strawberry varieties from Donggang