The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday condemned a Chinese professor for pressing a Taiwanese student over his nationality, calling it an abuse of power.
The ministry said it has asked its representative office in Italy to follow the investigation into the incident.
The ministry issued the remark following a widely circulated video showing Chen Zhen (陳蓁), a professor at Polytechnic University of Milan, pressuring a student to change the country of origin on his thesis from “Taiwan” to “China.”
Photo: Screenshot from Twitter
In the video, Chen is seen interrupting a videoconference with several students to directly address the one Taiwanese in the group, surnamed Wang (王).
Speaking in Mandarin, Chen expressed his dissatisfaction that on Wang’s thesis template, he had written his country as “Taiwan,” before telling him that Taiwan “is not a country” and is not recognized by the EU.
“When I see you write [your nationality] that way, as a Chinese person I have to say something... I hope you won’t think I’m using my position as a teacher to bully you,” he said, adding that he was just trying to have a “dialogue” and that the issue would not affect Wang’s thesis or grades.
Taiwan’s representative office in Italy said that it contacted the university’s rector, Ferruccio Resta, after learning of the video on Friday last week, and also discussed the student’s treatment with the school’s department of architecture, where the student is enrolled.
Resta on Monday said that the university’s disciplinary committee had opened an investigation into the incident to determine whether Chen’s actions had contravened the school’s code of ethics and conduct.
The video was originally posted by Chen himself to his Chinese WeChat account on March 18, along with pictures showing how the student had changed his country of origin to “China” as a result of the professor’s “communication.”
The video later drew attention on Twitter when it was shared on Thursday last week by Wu Lebao (吳樂寶), a Chinese dissident who has received asylum in Australia.
The video, which had been viewed more than 450,000 times as of yesterday, has drawn condemnation from Italian politicians across the political spectrum.
“The Polytechnic of Milan should suspend this teacher who assaults and bullies a Taiwanese student by imposing on him a geopolitical lesson with the worst language of Chinese propaganda,” Gianni Vernetti, a former senator and deputy minister from the left-leaning Democratic Party, wrote on Twitter.
Lucio Malan, a senator from the conservative Brothers of Italy party, said that Chen was trying to “re-educate” the Taiwanese student, adding that he expects an explanation from the government.
An editorial on Monday in Milan’s il Giornale daily headlined, “And in Italy it is now forbidden to declare oneself from Taiwan,” said that Chen contravened the Taiwanese student’s human and civil rights.
The author said that despite Taiwan’s “delicate” international situation, it is for all practical purposes a sovereign state, maintains close commercial and unofficial diplomatic ties with many nations, and is recognized by the Vatican.
PRIDE AND FURY: Supporters of the Taiwan People’s Communist Party sang in Tainan, while Taiwan loyalists in Kaohsiung vowed to ‘protect Taiwan until death’ Two small Taiwanese groups at the far ends of the debate over relations with Beijing marked the National Day of the People’s Republic of China yesterday with flag raisings and flag burnings — opposite responses at a time of rising tension over the Taiwan Strait. Oct. 1 marks the day that Mao Zedong (毛澤東) proclaimed the People’s Republic of China in 1949, with the defeated Republic of China government fleeing to Taiwan at the end of that year, where — after democratic reforms — it remains to this day, neither recognizing the other. China’s national day is not officially marked in any
Wearing masks should only be required on public transportation and at crowded venues, National Taiwan University (NTU) College of Public Health professor Tony Chen (陳秀熙) said yesterday. In his weekly online live broadcast on the COVID-19 pandemic, Chen said the virus is becoming endemic around the world and Taiwan should bring its policies in line with other countries, despite its success in curbing earlier outbreaks of COVID-19 and slowing its spread. He said there should be an orderly transformation from a pandemic to an endemic phase to ensure that society can restore its normal operations. However, as respiratory viruses spread faster between October
VOICING SUPPORT: The German ambassador to the US said that the country should not allow China to move goalposts to isolate Taiwan or break international law Relations with Germany continue to warm as German-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group chairman Klaus-Peter Willsch, leading a six-person delegation, left Germany for a six-day visit to Taiwan yesterday. The visit is yet another move by Berlin this year in support of Taiwan. The German Bundestag in May unanimously passed a resolution to support Taiwan’s bid to participate in the WHO as an observer. German Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach added his support for Taiwan’s participation at the World Health Assembly this year. German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock in August voiced support for Taiwan in light of Beijing’s military response to US
A scooter owner is under investigation for using a sticker bearing the words “Tainan City Government Police Bureau Patrol Vehicle” on his scooter. Tainan Police Department’s Yongkang Precinct said in a press release on Thursday that it received a report about a photograph of a food delivery scooter with the sticker being shared on social media. Police launched an investigation and spotted the electric scooter on Chungcheng Road in the city’s Yongkang District (永康). The scooter owner, surnamed Kao (高), said he had bought the sticker online and put it on his scooter because he thought it was fun and special, police
RSS