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.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
RSS