Vice President Annette Lu (
Lu reportedly upset many in her audience of more than 150 researchers after she delivered a talk focusing on the fifth anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule instead of on academics.
Chen Wen-tsung (
During the opening ceremony of the annual meeting of the Academic Sinica, the country's leading research institute, Lu pointed with alarm to the "one country, two systems" model proposed by Beijing for Taiwan, in light of the dismal conditions it had created in Hong Kong after five years of Chinese rule.
Hong Kong residents have not been pleased since British colonial rule ended in 1997, she said, having watched their economy regress, their real estate drop in value and their unemployment rate skyrocket.
Some of those listening to her speech were reportedly unhappy with what they regarded as Lu's prejudiced viewpoints, and their discontentment intensified during the evening.
But, apparently not realizing the effect her speech was having on the audience, especially on the attendees from Hong Kong, Lu continued along the same vein.
Describing the world as "a zoo," the vice president said China was like a ferocious lion, while Taiwan was like Hello Kitty.
These remarks triggered an immediate outcry from the scholars.
Hsiang Wu-chung (
Nonetheless, the scholar said politics should not permeate into academia. He said Hu Shizhi (
Hsiang shouted "I protest" by the end of his speech, to the applause of the other scholars.
Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) tried to defend Lu, saying that the institute was an academic sanctuary where different opinions should be respected.
But some members considered it improper for Lu to comment on political issues at an academic gathering, with others disagreeing with Lu's criticism of the Chinese government.
They said it was unfair to put all the blame on China for Hong Kong's economic recession, just as it was unfair to blame the DPP for Taiwan's economic slowdown over the past two years.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
RSS