Two Taipei city councilors yesterday accused the city government of allowing the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “united front” campaign to creep into schools, revealing that Taipei Municipal Dunhua Elementary School’s choir had recorded a song expressing nostalgia for China, which was screened during a Chinese state television channel’s Lunar New Year special.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) said parents had told her that the school administration late last year informed them that a television station had invited the choir members to be cast in a music video.
However, they did not expect the music video, which was recorded on the school’s campus on Jan. 12, to feature in a TV special titled “North-South Happy Reunion, Cross-Strait Reunion Dinner — 2023 Children’s New Year Greetings” (南北大歡聚兩岸小圍爐—2023萌寶大拜年) as part of the Fujian Radio Film and TV Group’s 2023 Lunar New Year Celebration shows, she said.
Photo: CNA
The song the choir was asked to sing was We Sing the Same Song (我們同唱一首歌) — the same controversial song that Taiwanese singers Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) performed for China Central Television’s Lunar New Year Celebration concert last year, Chien said.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) at the time had said that it was a Chinese “united front” propaganda song, she said.
“Politics should stay out of school campuses,” DPP Taipei City Councilor Chen Hsien-wei (陳賢蔚) said, adding that the Chinese music video production company had provided sheet music with simplified Chinese characters on it, and children in the choir had to write traditional Chinese characters on it because they could not read it.
He asked whether the Taipei Department of Education and the school administration had neglected their duties by allowing children to become tools of the CCP’s “united front” tactics.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) has just come into office and children in Taipei are already being used for CCP propaganda, Chien said.
The school was contacted and the video was recorded after Chiang became mayor, so it was his incompetence that allowed the CPP’s “united front” campaign to enter a school campus, she said.
The city government should set up standard operation procedures to deal with projects between China and schools in the city, she added.
Taipei Department of Education Deputy Director Chen Su-hui (陳素慧) said that when the school received the invitation from Fujian Radio Film and TV Group, it discussed the lyrics with the group and obtained consent from the children’s parents.
The television station had edited the footage afterward, so that it did not represent the school’s original intention, she said.
There are guidelines requiring that student interactions be based on academic exchanges, so the department would reiterate the guidelines, Chen said.
Separately, in response to media reports that Beijing wants to send a giant panda to Taipei Zoo, Chien said on Facebook on Monday that she was surprised Chiang is unaware of the CPP’s “united front” tactics and would be glad to accept the animal.
The CPP is using the giant panda as a political tool for its “united front” campaign, but Chiang is casually cooperating, raising concerns about his ability to deal with municipal administration and cross-strait issues, she said.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS