Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin’s (郝龍斌) speech at a municipal event sparked protests from several pro-independence activists yesterday after he called Taiwan a “region.”
Hau’s comments came yesterday as he attended a ceremony at Dadaocheng commemorating late Taiwanese lyricist Lee Lin-chiu (李臨秋) that was organized by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs.
“I am glad to attend the launch ceremony of the statue for Mr Lee Lin-chiu, the pioneer lyricist in the region of Taiwan,” Hau said.
PHOTO: CNA
Hau’s remarks sparked immediate protests from members of the Taiwan Society, who condemned the mayor for belittling Taiwan’s status.
“Taiwan is a nation, not a region! You have hurt our feelings by calling Taiwan a region,” Taiwan Society director Janice Chen (陳昭姿) and several members shouted at Hau as he left the ceremony.
Hau said he heard the protesters’ voices, but declined to make any further comment as he left the scene.
The department held the ceremony yesterday to commemorate Lee, who was one of the most important Taiwanese musicians under Japanese colonial rule along with composer Teng Yu-hsien (鄧雨賢) and lyricists Chen Chun-yu (陳君玉) and Chen Ta-ju (陳達儒).
The department unveiled a statue of Lee at Dadaocheng Park yesterday in honor of the lyricist, and will broadcast classic songs written by him including Watching the Spring Wind (望春風) at the park to introduce the songs to more people.
More activities to introduce Taiwanese folk songs will be organized next year at Dadaocheng, the department said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS