Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said yesterday the government would not remove signs representing the country because of the arrival of Chinese tourists, adding, however, that it could not force the private sector to act against its will.
Liu made the remarks during a gathering with foreign news agencies and reporters yesterday afternoon.
“We will not pull down national flags and ‘Republic of China’ signs at tourism sites for Chinese tourists,” Liu said in response to a question on whether the government would make such a move ahead of the expansion of Chinese tourists, which begins tomorrow with a special delegation that includes Chinese officials.
In answer to another question, Liu said the government had no right to interfere with the private sector on the matter and could only remind people of the “inappropriateness” of removing national symbols.
“Of course we won’t make any changes at tourist sites because of Chinese tourists. But as for the private sector, the removal of national symbols is permissible. The government cannot order them not to do so, but it can try to discourage them,” Liu said.
Asked about the government’s position on Beijing’s insistence that Chinese tourists be prevented from seeing slogans expressing support for Falun Gong and Tibet, Liu said: “the government will continue to defend public activities.”
“Taiwan is a society of diversity, democracy and freedom. People can do whatever they want to do, as long as it is within the law. What the government can do is maintain public order and prevent confrontation and violence,” Liu said.
Liu said that as a result of “media hype,” the public may have overoptimistic expectations of the economic benefits that will accrue from the cross-strait passenger flights and the arrival of a larger number of Chinese tourists. He said, however, that those developments would have a positive impact on the tourism industry, which in turn could help attract tourists from other countries.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching