The replacement of a Republic of China (ROC) national flag with the Chinese Taipei Olympic flag in a display of 206 national flags in London has sparked heated discussions among netizens and a spate of uploaded photographs featuring the red, blue and white flag.
Initiating the display to celebrate the Olympics, the Regent Street Association, a private association of businesses in the area and is unaffiliated with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), made the replacement after three days, reportedly under pressure from the Chinese embassy in London conveyed via the UK Foreign Office and the IOC.
A number of neitzens have left messages on President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) Facebook page calling on him to step down because he “can’t even protect the flag.”
Photo: CNA
The incident took place on Tuesday, but Ma has yet to make a comment on the matter. Nor for that matter has his administration, with the exception of a letter from Representative to the UK Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) to the organizer to express “strong concern.”
Ma must be “dim” if he believed that China would make any exceptions to its agenda of stifling Taiwan internationally because of his “pro-China” policies, a netizen said.
Students studying in the UK have uploaded various photographs of Taiwanese waving a ROC national flag in Piccadilly Circus, the venue of the display, with a message reading: “We put our national flag back in our own way.”
Photo: CNA
A student named Melissa Alexander invited netizens to “like” her Facebook post that reads: “This injustice has been going on for too long yet the world has never paid enough attention on this issue.”
“It is understandable that there is an agreement between the Taiwanese government and the Olympic association, that the Taiwanese national flag will not be on display in the Olympic stadium, nor along the Olympic route, to prevent an aggressive reaction from China and to maintain peace on the international stage. However, London’s Regent Street is not along the Olympic route. Hence there is absolutely no reason that the Taiwanese national flag cannot be shown in the skies of London,” the message read.
Former Democratic Progressive Party chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said in a Facebook message that she believed that many Taiwanese people felt “uncomfortable” because of the incident.
“Especially for many young netizens, they felt that they were ‘humiliated,’” she wrote.
Tsai urged the Ma administration to be “more proactive” in its handling of the matter. China should also learn to show “mutual respect” for Taiwanese, as opposed to provoking the feeling that China has been unfriendly to and has humiliated Taiwan, Tsai said.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
RSS