Ping Lu (
The ambassador-at-large post is an unpaid quasi-diplomatic position.
Ping was appointed as the director of KHICC in January, but the Hong Kong government has yet to issued her working visa.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
"Based on past experience, government workers who are appointed to work in Hong Kong have to wait three to six months to obtain their working visas from the Hong Kong government," Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) told the Taipei Times.
"We have tried our best to push Hong Kong officials on the issue. It is a normal procedure and we think it should be no problem for Ping to work in Hong Kong," Chen said.
There has been speculation, however, that Ping will not be accepted in Hong Kong because of her suspected political leanings.
Ping graduated from National Taiwan University with a degree in psychology. She has a master's degree in statistics from the University of Iowa and is now teaching at the National Institute of the Arts.
The Kaohsiung-born novelist told the Taipei Times that she supported the development of democracy in Taiwan and, as a result, was sympathetic to the DPP and was a moderate dissident during KMT rule.
"I have never, however, been interested in political power and am not a political person," she said.
An incident that happened just prior to the Government Information Office naming her the head of the KHICC lent a political twist to her nomination.
Former KHICC director and New Party member Chiang Su-hui (江素惠) told a Hong Kong newspaper last December that Ping had assisted former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in formulating his 1999 "special state-to-state" model of cross-strait relations.
Chiang was quoted in the article as saying, "If Ping Lu takes the post, she will definitely do whatever the DPP government asks of her."
His statement reported made Hong Kong officials and Chinese leaders hesitant about issuing her a visa.
Chiang served as director of the KHICC for 10 years -- an unusually long term.
Ping said she understood the forces that had delayed the issuing of a working visa.
"The Chinese government obviously doesn't know much about Taiwan's culture and of course, they don't know much about me," she said. "I have nothing to do with the `special state-to-state' relationship dictum ? [and] do not belong to any political party. I am a person of culture."
Chin Heng-wei (
"Ping enjoys a great reputation among Hong Kong's academic and cultural intelligentsia," Chin said.
However, Ping seems unperturbed by the matter.
"I usually consider it great fun to be on a journey? it is better than getting to one's destination," she said.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese