A comic strip published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) to promote a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China is marred by racist, derogatory and “extremely offensive” content, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.
The party threatened to report the ministry to the Control Yuan unless it suspended the comic strip within three days.
On Monday, the ministry unveiled a four-frame comic strip featuring a male character named Yi-ge (一哥) and his female counterpart Fa Sao (發嫂) as part of its efforts to advertise the ECFA.
PHOTO: CNA
A ministry press release said the purpose of the comic strip was to “allow people of all ages to easily and clearly understand the purpose and content of the ECFA.”
The comics portray Yi-ge as a 45-year old Hoklo-speaking man from Tainan City who works as a salesman in an unspecified traditional industry. According to his profile, Yi-ge is a vocational school graduate who speaks “Taiwanese Mandarin” and knows very little about the proposed ECFA. He is content being a follower in all things, but when it comes to protecting himself, he “goes all-out.”
“For example, if he were ever accidentally short-changed by a clerk at a breakfast restaurant, he would do almost anything to get the money back, even if it is just NT$5,” the description says, adding that he was the kind of person who talks tough but never takes action.
His profile also says that he lacks the sensitivity for danger, lives life in a carefree manner and never cares to improve himself because he has a steady job. He has had some conversations with his colleagues about the ECFA and even though he knows nothing about the subject, he is worried about losing his job once the pact is signed.
One of Yi-ge’s acquaintances is Fa Sao, a 40-year-old Hakka from Hsinchu who works as a supervisor at an import-export company. She is described as an active, self-motivated and highly capable married woman who is fluent in English, Mandarin, Hoklo and Japanese. She is always hungry for knowledge and eager to learn more about money-management. Her profile suggests she keeps herself well-informed and is a keen observer of market trends. Fa Sao was recently promoted to company spokesman. Her knowledge of cross-strait trade has prompted her to learn all about the ECFA.
“The comic strip is extremely offensive and derogatory. It describes those who oppose the ECFA as stupid and unaware of current events. This is glaring racial and class discrimination,” DPP Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said.
Cheng said the comic strip was full of echoes of Kuo Kuan-ying (郭冠英), the former Government Information Office staffer who was impeached on Tuesday for writing prejudicial essays against Taiwan and Taiwanese.
Cheng said if the ministry did not suspend distribution of the comic strip within three days, the DPP would file a malfeasance charge with the Control Yuan against the ministry.
When reached by the Taipei Times, MOEA Deputy Minister John Deng (鄧振中) said it was “absolutely not” the ministry’s intention to discriminate against anyone from any social stratum.
Deng said the two characters were the result of long, painstaking efforts by public relations experts to reflect the make-up of the general public.
The purpose of the comic was to explain a complicated issue in a simple and easily understood way so that people of all ages can understand the proposed agreement and was not meant to vilify anyone, he said.
ARRANGEMENTS MADE: Sources told the ‘Liberty Times’ that Nancy Pelosi could visit the legislature tomorrow and she might also meet with President Tsai Ing-wen If US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi comes to Taiwan, she would likely arrive this evening or tomorrow morning after visiting Malaysia, a US analyst said yesterday. According to the China Press, a Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper, she is to arrive in Kuala Lumpur today for her second stop. Although the Malaysian government has not announced an official itinerary, the paper cited a person familiar with the plans as saying she would only stay for a few hours. Meanwhile, South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo’s office yesterday said he would meet with Pelosi on Thursday morning before holding a news conference and
LOSE-LOSE-LOSE SCENARIO: TSMC’s chairman told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria a military invasion would render TSMC factories inoperable and that it would also hurt China If China invades Taiwan there would be no winners and everyone would lose, and people should draw lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war, which is not good for either side, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) told CNN. The interview on the Fareed Zakaria GPS program on Sunday came at a time of heightened cross-strait tensions amid a potential visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “People in Taiwan have earned their democratic system and they want to choose their way of life,” Liu said in the interview. “Indeed, chip supply is a critical business
SCHEDULE: Nancy Pelosi was expected to visit the legislature for about an hour before speaking with democracy advocates at Jingmei Human Rights Park US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taipei last night and was reportedly scheduled to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), legislators and democracy advocates before departing later today. The speaker departed from Kuala Lumpur yesterday afternoon and touched down at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) at about 10:43pm, where she was greeted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The stop marks the first time in 25 years that a sitting US House speaker is visiting Taiwan. Beijing has strongly condemned the visit, with Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) yesterday warning that the US “will
MIDWAY ACTIVITY: A source said that Chinese aircraft conducted tactical moves of briefly ‘touching’ the median line of the Taiwan Strait before circling back from it The Ministry of National Defense yesterday raised its combat alertness level until noon tomorrow in response to Chinese live-fire exercises ahead of a visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The alert is to be adjusted depending on the military threat from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), a source familiar with the matter said. However, the source added that combat readiness remains at “normal readiness” under the nation’s two-tier system and had not been raised to “emergency readiness.” Before Pelosi’s arrival yesterday, several Chinese warplanes flew close to the median line of the Taiwan Strait, another source told
RSS