The renaming of BirdLife International’s Taiwan chapter from Wild Bird Federation Taiwan to the Chinese Wild Bird Federation has caused an uproar among some of Taiwan’s bird lovers, with the founding president of the Wild Bird Society of Penghu, Lin Chang-hsing (林長興), saying that he will call for members to resign from the Chinese Wild Bird Federation.
Apart from refusing to pay yearly membership fees to the Chinese Wild Bird Federation, Lin said he would invite fellow bird enthusiasts to set up a new federation for wild birds using the words “Taiwan” or “Taiwanese.”
When the Taiwan chapter was first established, it used the English name Chinese Wild Bird Federation to join BirdLife International. However, given the word “Chinese” often led people to think the Chinese Wild Bird Federation belonged to China, the name was changed to Wild Bird Federation Taiwan in 2001, while its Chinese name remained unchanged as “Wild Bird Federation of Republic of China (ROC) (中華民國野鳥學會).”
Starting in 2005 however, China reportedly started pressuring BirdLife International to stop using the Chinese characters Zhonghua Minguo (中華民國), meaning ROC, in the Chinese name, and “Taiwan” in the English name. It was reported that China said if BirdLife International did not get the Wild Bird Federation Taiwan to stop using that name, it would mean it supported Taiwan “and a divided China.”
Wild Bird Federation Taiwan was firmly against changing its name, but at the start of this year, it yielded to BirdLife International’s request to have its Chinese name changed from Zhonghua Minguo Yeniao Xuehui (中華民國野鳥學會) to Zhonghua Niaohui (中華鳥會) and that its English name be changed back to “Chinese Wild Bird Federation.”
Lin yesterday said most of Taiwan’s bird lovers are solely interested in bird conservation and dislike politics. However, with the federation being pressured into changing names by China and BirdLife International, it was inevitable that many people in the international community would mistakenly think that the “Chinese Wild Bird Federation” belonged to China, he said, adding that one who supports Taiwan would not stand for this.
Lin said he hoped all Taiwanese bird lovers who do not wish to see the chapter turned into an organization controlled by China would resign from the chapter and establish a new group called “Taiwanese Wild Bird Federation” (台灣鳥盟).
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS