The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said it is investigating whether Taiwan’s representative in the Miss International beauty pageant was belittled by the competition’s Japanese organizer.
“The Foreign Ministry’s representative office in Japan is trying to figure out what happened,” MOFA spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) told the Central News Agency on Monday. “If there is any unreasonable arrangement or downgrading of Taiwan, the representative office will protest to the organizer and ask for a correction.”
Taiwan’s representative in the 2008 Miss International, Ting Yen-yu (丁彥妤) was given two sashes, reading “Taiwan” and “Chinese Taipei” by the Japanese organizer and was told “to wear either of them depending on where you are.”
Ting’s instructor Chang Ming-chu (張明珠) criticized the organizer for disrespecting the candidate.
Chen said Taiwan’s representatives usually use the designations “Chinese Taipei,” “Taiwan” or “Republic of China,” depending on which name Taiwan uses to join an international organizing body.
Since the Japanese organizer gave Ting the “Taiwan” sash, this meant that the organizer agreed to the candidate using “Taiwan,” Chen said, adding that the ministry would fight for the rights of Taiwan’s representative in the competition.
The contest organizers do not seem to require a specific name.
On their Web site, the 2006 Taiwan representative Liu Tzu-hsuan (劉子瑄) was listed under the name “Taiwan, “while last year’s Taiwan representative, Hung Tzu-wei (洪紫瑋), was listed under the name “Chinese Taipei.”
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Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
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