Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Bill Sun (
At a press conference held at the legislature, Sun said Thailand's Trade and Economic Office in Taipei twice turned down his application for a visa in July, forcing him to cancel a planned trip to attend a conference in Bangkok last month.
According to the lawmaker, he was not the only Taiwanese official who had been denied a visa. Thailand recently rejected visa the applications of Examination Yuan President Yao Chia-wen (
Chen, Sun said, was planning to join a conference on labor in Thailand this month.
"Why is Thailand afraid of issuing visas for Taiwanese officials? Is it afraid that by doing so it will anger China? Is Thailand China's lackey?" Sun said.
The lawmaker asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to arrange a meeting between him and Thailand's representative to Taiwan, Nualpan Mahakun, to discuss the visa issue last Friday. The meeting, however, did not take place.
"Ministry officials told me they couldn't arrange the meeting. The ministry should protest firmly to Thai officials. The Thailand Trade and Economic Office here should apologize to Taiwan," Sun said.
If no apology is given, Sun said he will stage a demonstration in front of the Thailand Trade and Economic Office protesting what he called the country's discrimination against Taiwan.
"Many Taiwanese tourists travel to Thailand every year. Our government imports a lot of workers from Thailand. Both help Thailand's economy a great deal. Thailand, however, still treats Taiwan unfairly," he said.
Sun also urged the public not to travel to Thailand and said he will request the government reduce the number of Thai workers if Thailand does not apologize.
Ministry spokesman Michel Lu (
"We hope Taiwan and Thailand can work through this issue. We hope the two countries can improve ties," Lu said.
Sun said he revealed the incident to the media because his request that the ministry speak to Thai officials on his behalf apparently went nowhere.
Thailand and Taiwan have maintained at best shaky relations. Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) once labelled Thailand as an "unfriendly nation."
The Thailand Trade and Economic Office officials were not available for comment yesterday.
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said
RSS