The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty.
The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television.
The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.”
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
The post followed remarks by Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) on Friday that Taiwan has never been a country, “not in the past and never in the future,” adding that the only reference to Taiwan in the UN was as a “province of China.”
The MAC said that Taiwan is an independent, sovereign nation that has never been part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
“To protect their careers in China, some Taiwanese entertainers have echoed statements made by PRC officials to denigrate the nation’s sovereignty, seriously hurting the feelings of Taiwanese,” it said.
Photo: Screen grab from Patty Hou’s Sina Weibo account
“Taiwanese entertainers should not harm the land that cultivated them, allowing them to pursue careers in China,” it said. “We strictly condemn those who voluntarily act as a pawn as part of China’s united front work intended to destroy Taiwan.”
The MAC said would review the entertainers actions to determine if they contravened Article 33-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例), which prohibits “any cooperative activity of a political nature with any individual, juristic person, organization, or other institution of the Mainland Area.”
The council said that China seeks to control the entertainment business to censor artists or mobilize them to make political statements on behalf of the PRC.
The practice demonstrates the fundamental differences in the systems of governance across the Taiwan Strait, it said.
A government source familiar with cross-strait affairs, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, yesterday said that it was not the first time Taiwanese entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements, such as celebrating the PRC’s national day or stating that the two sides of the Strait are part of one family, a typical “united front” tactic.
However, the entertainers crossed a line and seriously affected the nation’s security and interests by agreeing with and amplifying Wang’s statement that the Republic of China is not a country and that cross-strait issues are China’s internal affairs — a Beijing tactic intended to deny Taiwan participation in international organizations and to prevent countries from intervening in a potential attack against Taiwan, they said.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
BIG SPENDERS: Foreign investors bought the most Taiwan equities since 2005, signaling confidence that an AI boom would continue to benefit chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) market capitalization swelled to US$2 trillion for the first time following a 4.25 percent rally in its American depositary receipts (ADR) overnight, putting the world’s biggest contract chipmaker sixth on the list of the world’s biggest companies by market capitalization, just behind Amazon.com Inc. The site CompaniesMarketcap.com ranked TSMC ahead of Saudi Aramco and Meta Platforms Inc. The Taiwanese company’s ADRs on Tuesday surged to US$385.75 on the New York Stock Exchange, as strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications led to chip supply constraints and boost revenue growth to record-breaking levels. Each TSMC ADR represents
Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s (黎智英) fraud conviction and prison sentence were yesterday overturned by a Hong Kong court, in a surprise legal decision that comes soon after Lai was jailed for 20 years on a separate national security charge. Judges Jeremy Poon (潘兆初), Anthea Pang (彭寶琴) and Derek Pang (彭偉昌) said in the judgement that they allowed the appeal from Lai, and another defendant in the case, to proceed, as a lower court judge had “erred.” “The Court of Appeal gave them leave to appeal against their conviction, allowed their appeals, quashed the convictions and set aside the sentences,” the judges
RSS