The Taiwan People News Culture and Arts Foundation yesterday announced the results of an Olympic flag design competition, with hopes award-winning designs might replace Taiwan’s Olympic flag, the foundation said.
Wang Chao-ching’s (王朝慶) De Facto Existence and International Coexistence won first prize, with AnnieC’s Taiwanese Olympic Team second and Lee Po-feng’s (李白峰) Pride of Taiwan, Top of the World claiming third.
Artist Chen Tzu-fu (陳子福), winner of a Golden Horse lifetime achievement award, was given special recognition, along with nine works named as finalists.
Photo: Liao Cheng-huei, Taipei Times
More than 200 entries were judged by a panel consisting of scriptwriter/director Wu Nien-jen (吳念真), graphic designer Nieh Yung-chen (聶永真), Olympic track and field medalist Chi Cheng (紀政), comic artist Yu-fu (魚夫) and University of Taipei professor of visual arts Su Jen-ming (蘇振明), foundation chairman Chen Yung-hsing (陳永興) said.
Chen said he would meet with officials from the Taipei City Government, the Presidential Office and the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee to discuss using the winning design at international competitions.
“The Taiwanese team participating in the next Olympic Games [in Tokyo in 2020] might not have to use the flag and anthem that are representative of the former party-state,” New Power Party Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said.
“Taiwanese could participate in the Olympic Games under the name ‘Taiwan,’” Lim said.
“Taiwan, a free and democratic nation, should not accept that its flag, national anthem and title be controlled by others,” Su said.
“The competition engaged people to design flags out of love for the nation,” Su added.
“Of the 200-plus International Olympic Committee members, Taiwan is the only one that cannot compete under its national title, flag and anthem,” Chi said.
“Various associations were established using the plum flower — the national flower of the Republic of China — and a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) symbol when the flag was adopted in 1980,” Chi said.
“The nation’s Olympic flag design is a serious matter, but it was made hastily and carelessly when the nation was forced to adopt a new flag,” she said.
Had more time been taken, the design might have been executed more seriously and included public opinion, Chi said.
She said that she hopes spectators would be allowed to wave the winning flag at the Universiade student games that are to be held in Taipei in August.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
RSS