The omission of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) title on invitation cards for a lunch reception in Panama hosted by Ma has provoked discussion among the ethnic Chinese community, the Chinese-language United Daily Evening News reported yesterday.
According to a report by the newspaper from Panama City, the Chinese edition of the invitation cards for the lunch today with members of the local Chinese community was signed “Ma Ying-jeou” without the title “president.”
Chen Fa-chang (陳發昌), head of the local branch of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), was quoted by the United Daily Evening News as saying that he was disappointed at the embassy which organized the reception.
“It’s unbelievable that [Ma], as chairman of the KMT and president of the Republic of China, humbled himself to the extent that he voluntarily did not refer to himself as president,” Chen was quoted by the newspaper as saying.
According to the newspaper, Chen said the omission of Ma’s title was an act that “saddened the compatriot community and gladdened the enemy.”
The Spanish version of the invitation card was signed Ma Ying-jeou with the title “President of the Republic of China (Taiwan)” in front, the newspaper said.
The ethnic Chinese community in Panama has a population of 150,000, with only about 200 originally from Taiwan, the newspaper said.
In response to a media inquiry last night, a secretary at the embassy said that it was “normal” practice, and that there was no need to put the title “president” in Ma’s name in the Chinese version of the invitation card because the card was addressed to “our own compatriots,” unlike the Spanish-version, copies of which were sent to foreigners.
In Taipei, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Anna Kao (高安) said the Chinese invitation cards were made in accordance with the regular format used for such cards.
Ma left Taiwan on Sunday evening for a visit to Central America. He will attend the inauguration of Panamanian President-elect Juan Carlos Varela today, before heading to El Salvador.
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