Chiayi City Government came under fire yesterday for asking the public to refrain from carrying the national flag to this year's Asian Men's Volleyball Challenge Cup at the city's Gangping Sports Park from today through Sunday.
A group of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politicians plan a protest during today's opening ceremony against the city government's recent attempts to discourage spectators from taking national flags to the tournament grounds.
prevention
In an attempt to prevent the protest, the city government issued a press release on Wednesday urging people to "keep the national flag in their minds," instead of taking the flags to matches.
The press release further drew the ire of DPP politicians who called a press conference at the legislature yesterday asking for public participation in their protest.
"It's not that I like this flag," said Chen Mao-sung (
He said that he, as a supporter of Taiwanese independence, would prefer a national flag that represents the Republic of Taiwan rather than the Republic of China.
"But as the tournament is being hosted by our country and the national flag is a symbol of the nation's sovereignty and dignity, why can't we fly our national flag?" Chen said.
DPP Legislator Sandy Yen (莊和子) asked the city government to revoke the ban immediately, saying it downgraded the nation's status.
"I will mobilize people to cheer on our players [in today's match against South Korea] and we will bring our national flags with us," Yen said.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) reached an agreement in 1981 that the nation's sports teams would use the name "Chinese Taipei," as well as a "Chinese Taipei Olympic flag" during international events -- instead of the national flag and anthem -- in return for being allowed to participate in international sporting events.
"Given the international reality, it's fine that we follow the IOC rules. But we would rather give up hosting the games if we are not allowed to fly our national flag," DPP Legislator Wang Sing-nan (
blame
Wang said that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should be blamed for "setting a bad example" when he was Taipei mayor.
Ma asked fans not to bring the national flag to the 2001 AFC Women's Championship games at the city's soccer stadium. He also allowed the police to take national flags from the public in a baseball game in 2004 and he imposed ban on national flags in the Asian Short Track Speed Skating championship in 2005, Wang said.
Chang Chin-jung (章金榮), the secretary-general of the TVA, which is hosting the volleyball cup, said that the event should not be politicized.
He said that banning the flags was simply obeying the "Olympic model."
"According to the Olympic model, we don't encourage people to carry national flags nor do we prohibit them from bringing flags. But we will persuade the public not to disturb the competition if they are doing so with national flags," Chang said.
Chief of the city's press section Hsieh Ching-jung (謝靜容) said that they would cooperate with the volleyball association to make sure the tournament goes smoothly.
"The city government's role in the tournament is merely to provide a venue for the holding of the games, and it's not within the government's authority to change the volleyball association's decision [to follow the IOC rules]," Hsieh said.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
RSS