The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday extended its appreciation to Brazilian Deputy Paulo Eduardo Martins, who disclosed a letter from the Chinese embassy in Sao Paulo to local lawmakers demanding that they not congratulate President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on her inauguration on Wednesday last week.
In a tweet on Monday, Martins posted a photograph of the letter, which stated that the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Brazilian Congress, should respect its “one China” principle by not delivering any congratulatory remarks to Tsai’s second-term inauguration.
The disclosure sparked a series of posts on Twitter from Brazilians with the hashtag #VivaTaiwan, which means “long live Taiwan” in Portuguese, to show their backing for Taiwan and express concern over Beijing’s influence.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
It was one of the top three trending hashtags on Twitter on the day following Martin’s post.
Tsai on Tuesday used the hashtag to express her gratitude to Brazilian supporters of Taiwan.
“Thank you to all of our friends in #Brazil for your kind congratulations, and I hope you are all staying safe & healthy. #VivaTaiwan #VivaBrazil,” she tweeted.
Asked for comment during a news briefing in Taipei yesterday, ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou (歐江安) expressed her gratitude for Martins’ safeguarding of democratic values, as well as for his congratulatory remarks, adding that the ministry also thanks the Brazilian public for their support for Taiwan.
Freedom of speech is a fundamental human right, and democracy is a mutual value shared by Taiwan and Brazil, she said.
As of yesterday, 275 dignitaries from 49 nations and international organizations, including presidents, prime ministers and lawmakers, had sent congratulatory remarks to Tsai for her inauguration, she said.
As Brazil adheres to a one China policy, it does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but the two nations maintain unofficial ties through representative offices.
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
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS