Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday welcomed Chinese netizens, after they flooded her official Facebook page with nearly 80,000 messages since late on Tuesday night.
“I would rather view this incident positively. We hope Chinese Internet users have the opportunity to browse the Facebook accounts of different people, and I welcome them to visit my Facebook page,” Tsai said in response to media queries about the outpouring as she headed to an afternoon meeting of the DPP Central Executive Committee at the party’s headquarters in Taipei.
The messages from Chinese criticized and insulted the DPP, Tsai and Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
Facebook user Zhang Dong (張東) posted a picture of the DPP’s flag surrounded by the People’s Republic of China flag, with the words “green maggots will be annihilated” written above it.
A message from Fang Ding (方定) said: “You say that there cannot be high-tech without you, why don’t you assemble your own helicopters? Can you make nuclear bombs? Can you launch satellites? Can you make aircraft carriers? Can you make nuclear submarines? Can you make stealth fighter jets?”
The flood of messages from Chinese netizens triggered counterattacks from Taiwanese, with some daring the Chinese to criticize the Chinese government, while others called on “Chinese bastards” to go away.
Tsai posted a message on Facebook welcoming “netizens from across the Taiwan Strait.”
“In Taiwan, we have many discussions on current issues on this platform [Facebook], the public even organizes civil actions through it,” Tsai wrote. “There are differences in opinion and a variety of voices, but we move toward a better society step by step through exchanges, discussions and debates.”
She said she welcomed “new friends” to see a democratic, free and diverse Taiwan.
DPP spokesperson Juan Chao-hsiung (阮昭雄) also extended a welcome to Chinese Facebook users on behalf of the party, adding that the DPP, respecting freedom of speech, would not delete any message or take legal action unless there were clear violations of the law.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique