An inter-agency meeting gave the go-ahead yesterday for a controversial China-based music event to be held in Taiwan, although it will be limited to performances only, with no award ceremony permitted, according to the National Immigration Agency (NIA).
After a third round of deliberations by officials from 26 government agencies, the event co-organizer, the Taipei Artist Agency Association, was told to revise the name and the content of the program, the NIA said.
In addition, the Chinese Music Chart Awards (中國歌曲排行榜), originally planned to take place in Taiwan to mark its 20th anniversary, must avoid all language related to “the 20th anniversary” and can only promote the Taipei event as a concert.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
At least one Taiwanese must be employed as a host of the event that is scheduled to take place at the Taipei Arena on Dec. 29. The introduction of the geographic areas included in the production will have to be based on the legal terms used by Taiwan — the Taiwan Area, the Mainland Area, Hong Kong and Macau, the NIA said.
The NIA, the Ministry of Culture and the Mainland Affairs Council are to send staff to the rehearsals and to the event itself to make sure that no regulations are violated.
Organizers of the Chinese Music Chart Awards, a famous Mandarin pop music awards in China, announced in Beijing on Nov. 30 that the 2012 award presentation ceremony would be held in Taipei to mark the chart’s 20th anniversary.
The announcement drew the ire of opposition parties, which said that if the event were to take place in Taipei, it would be a denigration of the Republic of China’s sovereign status because the 16 categories of the awards are divided into two groups — China and Hong Kong/Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the Taiwan Solidarity Union protested outside the NIA yesterday.
TSU official Hsiao Kuan-yu (蕭貫譽) said that a green light should not be granted under any circumstances and demanded that the NIA reject the application.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
The nation’s usually punctual high-speed rail system yesterday was hit by major disruptions after all scheduled services were canceled and replaced with three hourly trains offering only non-reserved seating, affecting more than 200,000 passengers. Preliminary findings indicate the disruption was caused by a faulty power module in a track switch control cabinet, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) said, adding that as a full system inspection could only be conducted after operations end for the day, a decision on whether normal service would resume today would be announced before the first train departs. During a routine inspection early yesterday, a switch signal abnormality
RSS