People should pay heed to China’s disregard of Taiwan’s sovereignty and government over a wide range of issues, former Democratic Progressive Party chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Tsai’s comments were directed at a unilateral announcement on Thursday by organizers of the Chinese Music Chart Awards (中國歌曲排行榜) that this year’s event would be held in Taipei, despite not having received official approval from the Taiwanese government.
“Beijing has not only failed to show respect, but also intentionally disregarded Taiwan’s sovereignty and government. It seems to me that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has failed to resist China’s forceful drive to suppress Taiwan since he took office,” Tsai said on the sidelines of an event in Banciao District (板橋), New Taipei City (新北市).
“Taiwan’s sovereignty and authority will be eroded if the government does not act as the ultimate defender of the nation and meet people’s expectations. If that’s the case, society should stay vigilant and safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty and political system by itself,” she said.
Any Chinese event that belittles Taiwan’s sovereignty should not be held in Taiwan, Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Lin Shih-chia (林世嘉) said.
Lin urged the joint-review committee, which consists of 26 government agencies, to reject the application for the event during tomorrow’s scheduled review meeting and said she would propose that any agency that approves the application has its budget slashed.
The National Immigration Agency on Saturday confirmed that it had received application documents from the Chinese Music Chart Awards organizers and that 26 agencies, led by the Ministry of Culture, are scheduled to jointly review the matter tomorrow.
While the event has yet to be approved by Taiwanese authorities, a Chinese tour agency has been advertising tour packages, including attendance of the awards ceremony in Taipei, since early last month.
Caissa Travel Agency’s Web site is offering three tour packages — five, six and eight-day trips — for the event. The tour parties are scheduled to leave Beijing on Dec. 23 and Dec. 27 respectively, with the tours costing from 4,299 yuan (US$690) to 7,399 yuan.
Additional reporting by Chen Hui-ping
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
Taiwan is hosting the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) for the first time, welcoming more than 400 young linguists from 43 nations to National Taiwan University (NTU). Deputy Minister of Education Chu Chun-chang (朱俊彰) said at the opening ceremony yesterday that language passes down knowledge and culture, and influences the way humankind thinks and understands the world. Taiwan is a multicultural and multilingual nation, with Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka, 16 indigenous languages and Taiwan Sign Language all used, Chu said. In addition, Taiwan promotes multilingual education, emphasizes the cultural significance of languages and supports the international mother language movement, he said. Taiwan has long participated
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
RSS