The Kaohsiung City Government on Thursday said that US action star and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger would not be visiting the city.
Before Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) took office on Dec. 25 last year, Pan Heng-hsu (潘恆旭), who at the time was Han’s pick to head the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau, said that Han’s office had invited Schwarzenegger to give a speech this month about the movie industry and New World politics.
Schwarzenegger had agreed in principle and Han would propose a more detailed reception plan once he was sworn in as mayor, Pan said at the time.
Photo: AP
However, the bureau on Thursday said that it would have to contact the public relations firm in charge of the matter when asked about the visit.
However, a few hours later, Han’s office announced that the city government had “temporarily decided” not to invite Schwarzenegger due to financial concerns and issues regarding the reception plan.
“The matter was handled by the Kaohsiung Information Bureau,” Han’s office said, adding that it looked forward to future cooperation opportunities.
The reversal came after Pan said that reports of Kaohsiung getting two pandas from Chongqing Zoo in China to promote city-to-city exchanges also appeared to be premature.
Chinese National People’s Congress member Xu Pei (許沛) — who said during the second session of the congress, which concluded yesterday, that she would propose the idea of gifting Kaohsiung pandas — said that the proposal was purely a personal suggestion.
“Whether, when and from which [Chinese] city pandas would be sent to Kaohsiung are to be determined by the central [Chinese] government,” Xu said on Tuesday.
Additional reporting by Ko Yu-hao and CNA
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