Vice President Annette Lu (
Lu reportedly upset many in her audience of more than 150 researchers after she delivered a talk focusing on the fifth anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule instead of on academics.
Chen Wen-tsung (
During the opening ceremony of the annual meeting of the Academic Sinica, the country's leading research institute, Lu pointed with alarm to the "one country, two systems" model proposed by Beijing for Taiwan, in light of the dismal conditions it had created in Hong Kong after five years of Chinese rule.
Hong Kong residents have not been pleased since British colonial rule ended in 1997, she said, having watched their economy regress, their real estate drop in value and their unemployment rate skyrocket.
Some of those listening to her speech were reportedly unhappy with what they regarded as Lu's prejudiced viewpoints, and their discontentment intensified during the evening.
But, apparently not realizing the effect her speech was having on the audience, especially on the attendees from Hong Kong, Lu continued along the same vein.
Describing the world as "a zoo," the vice president said China was like a ferocious lion, while Taiwan was like Hello Kitty.
These remarks triggered an immediate outcry from the scholars.
Hsiang Wu-chung (
Nonetheless, the scholar said politics should not permeate into academia. He said Hu Shizhi (
Hsiang shouted "I protest" by the end of his speech, to the applause of the other scholars.
Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) tried to defend Lu, saying that the institute was an academic sanctuary where different opinions should be respected.
But some members considered it improper for Lu to comment on political issues at an academic gathering, with others disagreeing with Lu's criticism of the Chinese government.
They said it was unfair to put all the blame on China for Hong Kong's economic recession, just as it was unfair to blame the DPP for Taiwan's economic slowdown over the past two years.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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