Having already failed in its bid to participate at the World Expo in Milan as a nation with its own pavilion in the expo’s country area, Taiwan has now been hit by another demotion: The nation has been reduced to a “province of China” in the official mobile app of the expo.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Anna Kao (高安) yesterday said the ministry had asked that its overseas mission urge the Italian authorities to correct the mistake, adding that the Taiwanese government would respond immediately to every incident that damages the nation’s sovereignty.
The event organizer describing Taiwan as a Chinese province has sparked an Internet furor, with Taiwanese netizens saying that they were “outraged” at the description and they protested against the handling of the situation by Italian authorities.
Photo: Hu Shun-hsiang, Taipei Times
In related news, a group of Taiwanese is launching a campaign to promote Taiwan’s international visibility during the Milan expo.
The group decided to launch the campaign and raise funds for the project after the Italian authorities denied Taiwan the right to a national pavilion at the expo, agreeing instead to allow Taiwan to set up a corporate pavilion.
However, a corporate pavilion does not seem feasible, as few Taiwanese businesses are likely to travel to Milan for the expo.
Given that Taiwan will probably be absent from the global spectacle, dozens of young Taiwanese decided to forge their own way to “participate.”
The expo is scheduled to run from Friday to Oct. 31, and the group said it plans to travel to Milan in July, when large crowds are expected to be at the fair.
They said they plan to use mobile installations to showcase Taiwan’s signature foods in accordance to the theme of the expo: “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.”
They plan to parade the installations around Milan, they said.
The campaign, called “One Pavilion to Go, Taiwan Project,” is aimed at showcasing Taiwan’s culture and specialty foods, the organizers said on Facebook. Several kinds of Taiwanese food and drink are to be represented, including bubble tea, Taiwan’s best-known beverage, the organizers said.
The group, with an average age of 26, said they wanted to employ civic power to ensure that Taiwan is not missing from the event — even though it was not allowed to set up a national pavilion.
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