The Taiwan Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan condemned China for its political interference with Taiwanese choirs participating in the Tokyo International Choir Competition.
Six Taiwanese choirs — Nibun Chorus, a choir from Sinapalan Elementary School in Nantou County, Bukulav Kids Troupe from Xingzhong Elementary School in Kaohsiung, Ching-Yun Choir, Hngzyang na Nahuy & Mary Children’s Choir and the Octangle Male Choir — were part of the competition held from Friday to yesterday.
The office said that Chinese authorities had pressured the event organizers to remove Taiwan’s national flag and change the participants’ name from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei.”
Photo: CNA
The office was notified of the situation on Saturday evening and promptly asked Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩), who had accompanied the choirs, to assist in communicating with the competition organizers.
Japan-ROC Diet Members’ Consultative Council Chairman Keiji Furuya also voiced support in defense of Taiwan, but the organizers ultimately yielded to China’s demands, unilaterally changing the name to “Chinese Taipei” and deciding not to display any national flags for the participating countries.
Music transcends national borders and is a universal art enjoyed by all people, the office said, adding that for the past six years, Taiwanese choirs have always used the name “Taiwan” in the competition.
Photo: CNA
However, this year, China intervened politically, distorting the art of music and offending Taiwanese, the office said, adding that it strongly condemned such actions, which it called despicable.
It also expressed deep regret over the organizer’s partial acquiescence to China’s demands, making unauthorized changes to Taiwan’s name, and has lodged a stern protest.
To support the Taiwanese choirs, the office sent Deputy Representative to Japan Chou Shyue-yow (周學佑) and 16 colleagues to cheer them on and prevent further interference by China.
Representative to Japan Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) said that recent polls show 88 percent of Taiwanese feel close to or trust Japan, while nearly 90 percent of Japanese hold a negative view of China, and Japan’s annual defense white paper also highlighted China’s growing military activity, labeling it the greatest strategic threat.
The Japanese public knows that Taiwan and China are two distinct countries, he said, adding that China’s brutal political tactics to suppress Taiwan’s choirs are likely to trigger anger among Japanese, escalating the situation and backfiring by revealing China’s shortcomings.
Taiwan, known for its high-tech industry, freedom and democracy, is a country liked globally, with its choirs winning numerous international competitions, achievements which have allowed the world to experience Taiwan’s art and culture, Lee said.
While Taiwan is increasingly gaining worldwide attention and recognition, China’s arrogant suppression cannot change the fact that “Taiwan is Taiwan, and China is China,” he said, adding that China would not succeed in its attempts to suppress Taiwan.
Lee also voiced his sympathy for the Taiwanese teams and athletes who, in addition to competing, have to bear the burden of Chinese political interference.
However, he said that Taiwanese and the global Taiwanese community would continue to offer unwavering support.
Taiwan is confident that it would grow stronger and garner more international backing, Lee said, adding that Taiwanese teams would continue to deliver their best performances, allowing the world to embrace Taiwan even more.
AGING: As of last month, people aged 65 or older accounted for 20.06 percent of the total population and the number of couples who got married fell by 18,685 from 2024 Taiwan has surpassed South Korea as the country least willing to have children, with an annual crude birthrate of 4.62 per 1,000 people, Ministry of the Interior data showed yesterday. The nation was previously ranked the second-lowest country in terms of total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime. However, South Korea’s fertility rate began to recover from 2023, with total fertility rate rising from 0.72 and estimated to reach 0.82 to 0.85 by last year, and the crude birthrate projected at 6.7 per 1,000 people. Japan’s crude birthrate was projected to fall below six,
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
US President Donald Trump in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday said that “it’s up to” Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be “very unhappy” with a change in the “status quo.” “He [Xi] considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing, but I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that. I hope he doesn’t do that,” Trump said. Trump made the comments in the context
SELF-DEFENSE: Tokyo has accelerated its spending goal and its defense minister said the nation needs to discuss whether it should develop nuclear-powered submarines China is ramping up objections to what it sees as Japan’s desire to acquire nuclear weapons, despite Tokyo’s longstanding renunciation of such arms, deepening another fissure in the two neighbors’ increasingly tense ties. In what appears to be a concerted effort, China’s foreign and defense ministries issued statements on Thursday condemning alleged remilitarism efforts by Tokyo. The remarks came as two of the country’s top think tanks jointly issued a 29-page report framing actions by “right-wing forces” in Japan as posing a “serious threat” to world peace. While that report did not define “right-wing forces,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was
RSS