The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) rebutted complaints by artist Chen Chieh-jen (陳界仁) yesterday, after Chen told reporters that an AIT consular officer had been rude to him when he applied for a US visa last week.
A well-known contemporary artist, Chen has been invited to contribute to the Prospect.1 New Orleans contemporary art biennial next month.
The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday quoted Chen as saying that when he went to AIT to apply for a US visa last week, an immigration officer rejected his application and said in Chinese: “I suspect you would stay in the country illegally.”
The AIT said in a statement that Chen’s application for a visa had not been rejected but it could not process the application because Chen had not provided all the information required on the form.
“Regrettably, instead of providing the information we needed to renew his visa, Mr Chen chose to misrepresent his experience to the media. His visa application remains active in our system and he is always welcome to return to complete the application process,” the statement said.
AIT declined to comment on whether any visa officer had been rude to Chen.
The newspaper report said Chen would create a blog to channel his frustration into creative energy by publishing the stories of people who say they have been treated rudely by AIT visa officers.
The collection of complaints will be part of a bigger project on the unfair treatment some Taiwanese allegedly meet when applying to visit the US, it said.
Chen said the project, rather than just being an outlet for his anger, could lead to a dialogue about “unfair treatment.”
Howard Peng (彭煒浩), a graduate of a US college, said he was not surprised by Chen’s experience.
Peng said he had had a similar experience and had heard stories in the same vein from others.
“I felt like they treated me as if I were a terrorist,” he said.
But Jackson Hsu (許玉元), a retired businessman, said he found AIT staff to be amicable.
“If you are going to the US for the right reason, then there is nothing to be scared of,” Hsu said. “The more you act like you have something to hide, the more the officers will suspect something is wrong.”
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