Beijing should be cautious about its timing to pressure Taiwan, as pressuring the nation at international conferences on healthcare and sanitation might trigger a backlash similar to that caused by Taiwanese K-pop singer Chou Tzu-yu’s (周子瑜) forced apology, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
Ko made the comment when asked by reporters about Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ding-yu’s (王定宇) idea that Taiwan’s delegation to the World Health Assembly should bring with Zika and dengue-fever-carrying mosquitoes to the Geneva gathering to protest against Beijing subordinating Taiwan’s sovereignty.
“Disease prevention efforts should be thorough around the world. I believe that the Chinese Communist Party will apply all kinds of pressure on Taiwan, but it had better avoid some issues, particularly issues about healthcare and sanitation. Otherwise, the backlash triggered by the Chou Tzu-yu incident will recur. Beijing needs to be careful,” Ko said.
Chou made a tearful apology in January for briefly holding up a Republic of China flag during an appearance with other members of TWICE on a South Korean variety show, which had drawn a wave of protests from Chinese netizens.
Chou said in the video that she was “proud to be Chinese.”
However, her apology sparked a public outcry in Taiwan and has been cited as one of the factors to the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential and legislative election rout just two days later.
Ko also told reporters that the Farglory Group’s claim that the city government might have deliberately withheld information on a resolution made by the Taipei Construction Review Committee in March regarding the Taipei Dome project out of concern that it would negatively affect the city’s negotiations with company.
The committee found that Farglory carried out the construction according to the project’s construction drawings.
Ko said that the committee’s resolution simply meant that Farglory Construction Co carried out the construction according to the drawing handed to it by Farglory Dome Co, but it likely used a different drawing when the project passed a review by the city’s Urban Planning Review Committee in 2011.
Farglory Group’s claim was a red herring, the mayor said.
“They have such good public relations skills. I really admire their ability to manipulate the media. They would be great if they were fighting an election campaign,” he said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
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