Former entertainer Lisa Cheng (鄭心儀) was yesterday confronted by pro-localization protesters as she went to the Ministry of Culture in Taipei in a failed attempt to apologize to Minister of Culture Cheng Li-Chiun (鄭麗君) for slapping her in the face on Tuesday.
Lisa Cheng slapped the minister at a Chinese Television System-hosted lunar year-end banquet for veteran entertainers, saying that the minister “had it coming” for attempting to purge all memory of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his son, former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), from history by “pushing policies aimed at demolishing the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.”
After the banquet, she visited the police and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, which placed limitations on her movement for alleged obstruction of official duties, assault and public defamation.
Photo: Chen I-kuan, Taipei Times
Lisa Cheng yesterday said that her apology was sincere, adding that her “actions were wrong” and set a bad example.
Asked whether it was arbitrary to label the ministry’s transitional justice policies as purging the memories of the Chiangs from history, Lisa Cheng said that the minister “is pushing for the demolition of the memorial hall. That is what I saw on the news.”
However, she said that admitting her actions were wrong does not mean that Cheng Li-Chiun’s actions are right, and called on the ministry not to demolish the hall.
Asked about media reports of her participation in China Unification Promotion Party events, Lisa Cheng said that such reports are meaningless, as the events were open to the public.
Ministry official Chang Hui-chun (張惠君) said that the minister’s thoughts on the incident were made clear in an official news release and on her Facebook page.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that it is wrong to resort to violence and called on the public to be rational when expressing opinions.
Tsai, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Vice Premier Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) have all called Cheng Li-Chiun to offer consolation.
Raising the hypothetical question of what would have happened if the incident had taken place during the White Terror era, Tsai said that the answer was exactly why democracy should be cherished.
Separately, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairperson Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said in a radio interview that he did not endorse violence, but added that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should have a unifying standard when considering violent actions.
Hau on Tuesday said on Facebook that “the slap hurts, but many have also been hurt by the DPP’s desinicization efforts,” adding that the slap was the result of “the government forcing people to rebel.”
In 2008, Tsai, who was then DPP chairperson, organized a protest against a visit by then-Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) that resulted in injured police and bystanders, he said.
“Tsai said at the time that the KMT government had ‘forced the people to rebel,’” Hau said.
The DPP should not castigate the government when it is not in power and forbid violence when it is in office, he said.
Quoting Tsai, Hau said that he wished the public would “regard protesters with empathy.”
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS