Questions on why a Republic of China (ROC) flag that was hung along with the flags of other countries in central London was removed remained shrouded in mystery yesterday, as the organizer said it would replace it with a Chinese Taipei Olympic flag, but declined to say why.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Steve Hsia (夏季昌) said the organizer, the Regent Street Association, on Tuesday responded to a letter from the Taipei Representative Office in the UK expressing concern over the matter.
In its short reply, the association said it felt “sorry” and that the Chinese Taipei Olympic flag would be hung up the next day, Hsia said. It did not say why the ROC flag was taken down.
Photo: Reuters
Representative to the UK Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) was quoted by the Central News Agency as saying he was “not satisfied” with the result and that it was “barely acceptable.”
In Taipei, Hsia avoided a question on whether the ministry found the answer acceptable by saying the representative office was still communicating with the association “in hopes it can hang the ROC national flag back in its original place.”
The ROC flag was originally among an array of 206 flags of nations competing in the Olympics, a display stretching more than 3km down Regent Street to Piccadilly Circus before continuing south down Regent Street, including Jermyn Street and Conduit Street, to celebrate the Olympic Games.
The national flags were positioned in alphabetical order, with six flags in a line. The ROC flag was hung with the flags of Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania and Thailand, before it was removed on Tuesday, leaving the slot vacant.
Shen sent a letter to the association to register the nation’s “strong concern” over the removal, and to convey “our view that the nomenclature regarding Taiwan’s participation in the Olympics shall not be applied to the display of the flags in the street,” Hsia said.
Due to political opposition from China to Taiwan’s participation in the Olympics, a protocol signed in 1981 between the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) mandates that Taiwan compete under the name “Chinese Taipei” and the ROC’s national flag and national anthem cannot be used at competition venues.
The protocol does not ban the use of ROC flags in venues not used for the Games during the Olympics period, Hsia said.
Shen also said in the letter that in a democracy, a matter like this shall fall “within the scope of freedom of speech” and “shall not be subject to interference by a third party,” according to Hsia.
The association might still opt to follow the 1981 protocol in the end because “it has its own concerns,” Hsia said.
“In that case, we will fly our national flag on other occasions at appropriate times in London,” he said.
Several Taiwanese students and expats in London have protested against the incident by carrying ROC flags to the site.
Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) spokesman Chen Yi-hsin (陳以信), who is taking up doctoral studies in London, posted a photo of him raising a national flag at the site on his Facebook page yesterday, saying it was “a protest” against the disappearance of the ROC flag in London.
“I was shocked when I learned that the flag had been removed, and it’s regrettable to see the spot where our national flag was hanging four days ago is empty now,” he said.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who doubles as KMT chairman, did not discuss the incident while presiding over the party’s Central Standing Committee yesterday, which invited Sports Affairs Council Deputy Minister Rosa Chien (錢薇娟) to report on the Taiwanese team’s participation in the Games.
Ma promised to continue pushing sports development and said the government would build 50 sports centers in the country, continuing a policy he started when he was the mayor of Taipei by building 12 sports centers in the city.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
RSS