The Mainland Affairs Council has lodged a complaint with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) after the nationality of Taiwanese violinist Tseng Yu-chien (曾宇謙) was changed from “Taiwan” to “China Taipei” at a prize-winners’ concert in Moscow, council spokesperson Wu Mei-hung (吳美紅) said.
Tseng won the silver medal in the violin category at the 15th International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow on Wednesday last week.
At the prize-winners’ concert on Friday last week, Tseng was introduced as being from “China Taipei.” Tseng’s nationality was also changed from “Taiwan” to “China Taipei” on the official Web site of the event after he won the silver medal.
“It was an affront to the Republic of China’s (ROC) dignity,” Wu said. “China has no right to stake a claim on Taiwan’s excellence in cultural performance and its actions have offered no respect for the feelings and dignity of the Taiwanese people.”
“The TAO should be practical about the rights of Taiwanese citizens to be active on the international stage and not seek to undermine the hard-won mutual trust and results of the cross-strait relationship,” Wu said.
When Tseng returned to Taiwan on Wednesday, he said he was sorry to hear of the imposed change in his nationality, adding that he had registered his nationality as “Taiwanese” at every stage of the competition.
He said one way to combat the nationality change is for more young Taiwanese to become successful in their respective fields.
“As more Taiwanese win renown on the international stage, the global community will see Taiwan as it is and give us our due,” he said.
Tseng said the award he received still used “Taiwan” as his nationality and joked that he will have to keep it safe so it is not changed too.
When asked why the nation’s representative to Russia, Chen Chun-shen (陳俊賢), had not lodged a complaint at the concert, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and other foreign representatives were present at the event and Chen had been unable to move freely due to tight security.
The Representative Office in Moscow for the Taipei-Moscow Economic and Cultural Coordination Commission filed a complaint with the host of the concert afterwards, the ministry said.
Additional reporting by Yang Yuan-ting and Chu Pei-hsiung
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
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
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
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book