Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers urged the government yesterday to ban a Chinese singer from performing in Taipei, citing security concerns.
Chen Sisi (?佷佷), attached to the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Second Artillery Corps, which is in charge of missiles and nuclear weapons, is scheduled to give a concert at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall today.
The 33-year-old Chen gained fame last year by singing at the closing of the Beijing Olympics.
DPP Legislator William Lai (?ь肅) said Chen's performance would give a deceptively friendly impression of the PLA.
"This will dissolve the public's vigilance and hurt our national defense," Lai said.
Lai said lyrist Qu Yuan (⑽靮) and music teacher Li Shuanjiang (燠褞蔬) who are accompanying Chen on this trip are also PLA members.
Citing the Regulations Governing Entry Permission to the Taiwan Area for People from Mainland China (湮?華??鏍筳?怢?華?偝褫煇楊), Lai said the three should be deported at once for failing to disclose their PLA status when applying to enter Taiwan.
The trio pose a grave national security threat and the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) should have never approved their entry, Lai added.
"Although the council and other agencies were hesitant about their applications, a certain lawmaker lobbied on their behalf and ultimately made their visit possible," Lai said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Justin Chou (笚忐?) said the organizers did "appeal" to him, but he denied asked any agency to cut the organizers some slack.
"Cultural exchanges should not be politicized," he said.
When asked for comments, MAC Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (?肅?) said the performers were visiting to attend art and cultural activities, and their trip did not have any military implications.
Ministry of National Defense Spokesman Yu Sy-tue (訒佷逌) said Chen's performances has nothing to do with military affairs.
"It is my understanding that she is not involved in any military-related activity during her time in Taiwan. She simply came for the concert, a cultural activity," Yu said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH, FLORA WANG AND JIMMY CHUANG
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) on Wednesday said that a new chip manufacturing technology called “A16” is to enter production in the second half of 2026, setting up a showdown with longtime rival Intel over who can make the fastest chips. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract manufacturer of advanced computing chips and a key supplier to Nvidia and Apple, announced the news at a conference in Santa Clara, California, where TSMC executives said that makers of artificial intelligence (AI) chips will likely be the first adopters of the technology rather than a smartphone maker. Analysts said that the technologies announced on
NO RECIPROCITY: Taipei has called for cross-strait group travel to resume fully, but Beijing is only allowing people from its Fujian Province to travel to Matsu, the MAC said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday criticized an announcement by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism that it would lift a travel ban to Taiwan only for residents of China’s Fujian Province, saying that the policy does not meet the principles of reciprocity and openness. Chinese Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Rao Quan (饒權) yesterday morning told a delegation of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers in a meeting in Beijing that the ministry would first allow Fujian residents to visit Lienchiang County (Matsu), adding that they would be able to travel to Taiwan proper directly once express ferry
CALL FOR DIALOGUE: The president-elect urged Beijing to engage with Taiwan’s ‘democratically elected and legitimate government’ to promote peace President-elect William Lai (賴清德) yesterday named the new heads of security and cross-strait affairs to take office after his inauguration on May 20, including National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to be the new defense minister and former Taichung mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) as minister of foreign affairs. While Koo is to head the Ministry of National Defense and presidential aide Lin is to take over as minister of foreign affairs, Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) would be retained as the nation’s intelligence chief, continuing to serve as director-general of the National Security Bureau, Lai told a news conference in Taipei. Koo,
MANAGING DIFFERENCES: In a meeting days after the US president signed a massive foreign aid bill, Antony Blinken raised concerns with the Chinese president about Taiwan US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and senior Chinese officials, stressing the importance of “responsibly managing” the differences between the US and China as the two sides butt heads over a number of contentious bilateral, regional and global issues, including Taiwan and the South China Sea. Talks between the two sides have increased over the past few months, even as differences have grown. Blinken said he raised concerns with Xi about Taiwan and the South China Sea, along with China’s support for Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, as well as other issues