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
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
RSS