Responding to criticism of Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen's (
"I deeply apologize for the words I said which made others uncomfortable," Lu quoted Chen as saying.
In response to press queries on Chen's remarks, a spokesman for Singapore's Foreign Affairs Ministry said, "This is not the first time Singapore has stated our concerns about Taiwan. Many other countries also believe that Taiwan is pursuing a dangerous course towards independence. Resort[ing] to intemperate language cannot assuage these concerns."
Infuriated by his Singaporean counterpart George Yeo's criticism of Taiwan during the recent UN General Assembly, Chen called the city-state "a tiny nation no bigger than a piece of snot."
He also said, "Singapore holds China's lan pa (
In the Hoklo language, also known as Taiwanese, lan pa means testicles; saying that someone holds another's lan pa means that the former is fawning over the latter.
Chen was venting his anger over what he considered to be Singapore's attempt to curry favor with China.
The foreign minister harbored no malice in his comments on Singapore, Lu said. He added that the reason Chen used the earthy figures of speech was because he was meeting with local people and wanted to use terms that were easily understood by the general public when discussing the nation's situation on the international stage.
Lu said that the ministry explained this reason for Chen's choice of idioms to the Singaporean mission in Taipei, and that the envoys had responded that they understood. Lu stressed the nation's ties with Singapore remain good.
Executive Yuan spokesman Chen Chi-mai (
Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang (
Su also said it was inappropriate for him to comment further on the issue.
In response's to Chen's comments, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus whip Tsai Huang-liang (
Tsai admitted that the DPP is indeed dissatisfied with Singapore, but said that Chen's words were inappropriate since he represents the country.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Chang (
"Even though Chen was not satisfied with Singapore's recent actions, he should not let his emotions affect him like this since he represents the nation," Chang said.
"He should have fought back in a more indirect and sophisticated way, instead of using such low-class language," Chang said.
The legislator also served as a foreign minister under the KMT regime.
"The legislator-turned-minister should really go to the training center of his ministry and take some diplomatic training there," the minister-turned-legislator said.
Another KMT lawmaker, Bill Sun (
"In fact, Chen's comments were made to attract votes from the pro-independence camp," Sun said yesterday. "However, the nation's people will pay a considerable price for this eventually."
"Most of Taiwan's diplomatic allies are much smaller than Singapore. The ministry should immediately apologize for such inappropriate criticism," Sun said.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a