Elton John warmed up his vocal chords for a concert early yesterday morning in Taiwan by telling photographers to "fuck off" and that they were a bunch of "rude, vile pigs."
However, despite rain and a fracas at the airport on arrival, he opened with The Bitch is Back at his concert, which filled about 80 percent of the 12,000-seat Chungshan Stadium in Taipei.
PHOTO: TONY YAO, TAIPEI TIMES
"We had a bit of an incident at the airport. But I want you to know that the people of Taiwan have been wonderful," he said. "But those cameramen and television reporters are a disgrace to your country. They should not be allowed to meet people like that at the airport."
The media ambushed the rock star after he arrived by private plane shortly after midnight at CKS International Airport.
John was angry that police did not properly restrain the pack and protect him "from the ensuing chaos," a statement issued by the singer said.
ETTV cable news showed footage of John, dressed in a royal blue track suit and matching sunglasses, berating the photographers and TV crews as he cleared immigration.
The fuming star was also shown clenching his teeth and muttering expletives as he stood with his arms crossed tightly across his chest.
"Rude, vile pigs," shouted John, who was to perform in Taipei. "Do you know what that means? Rude, vile pigs. That's what all of you are."
One of the photographers shouted back, "Why don't you get out of Taiwan?"
John answered, "We'd love to get out of Taiwan if it's full of people like you. Pig! Pig!"
The star, who recently performed in Shanghai, said: "We had a great tour of the Far East and then we come to Taiwan and ... fuck."
Taipei was the last stop on his four-leg Asian tour, which also included Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai.
"Despite this frightening arrival, his spirits remain high and he is looking forward to performing the concert," John's statement said.
The British singer has declined to give any interviews while in Taiwan, according to the local agency handling his concert arrangements.
Despite previous grievances of the sort John encountered, local media representatives with a pass are allowed to enter the restricted areas of airports, according to a statute governing the use of airports' restricted zones.
In many countries, however, it is not the normal practice for the media to be allowed access to such areas.
John was not the first foreign star to experience an immediate case of culture shock after encountering aggressive Taiwanese photographers at CKS airport.
When British singer Robbie Williams arrived for a concert in 2001, he ran through the terminal as photographers pursued him.
Some reporters later objected to Williams' use of an expletive when referring to Taiwan.
"I didn't insult your country. I will insult you," Williams said before rattling off a series of expletives.
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
‘MISGUIDED EDICT’: Two US representatives warned that Somalia’s passport move could result in severe retaliatory consequences and urged it to reverse its decision Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has ordered that a special project be launched to counter China’s “legal warfare” distorting UN Resolution 2758, a foreign affairs official said yesterday. Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority on Wednesday cited UN Resolution 2758 and Mogadishu’s compliance with the “one China” principle as it banned people from entering or transiting in the African nation using Taiwanese passports or other Taiwanese travel documents. The International Air Transport Association’s system shows that Taiwanese passport holders cannot enter Somalia or transit there. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) protested the move and warned Taiwanese against traveling to Somalia or Somaliland
SECURITY: Grassroots civil servants would only need to disclose their travel, while those who have access to classified information would be subject to stricter regulations The government is considering requiring legislators and elected officials to obtain prior approval before traveling to China to prevent Chinese infiltration, an official familiar with national security said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) in March announced 17 measures to counter China’s growing infiltration efforts, including requiring all civil servants to make trips to China more transparent so they can be held publicly accountable. The official said that the government is considering amending the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to require all civil servants to follow strict regulations before traveling to China.
RSS