The Delphi Economic Forum yesterday corrected Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) title on its Web site from “former president of Taipei” to “former president of Taiwan” following calls from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ma’s office about the error.
The change was made within hours of the Ma’s profile appearing on the forum’s site, with the original wording prompting criticism from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said the mistaken title was inappropriate and a “serious error.”
Photo: screen grab from the Delphi Economic Forum Web site
Ma’s office yesterday said the invitation to address the forum had referred to Ma as “former president of the Republic of China,” and that it had asked the forum to correct the error when it was spotted.
Ma’s office said it thanked the ministry for moving quickly to request a correction from the forum.
“It is important for non-governmental groups to speak to the world even when President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) government has been unable,” Ma’s office said.
Ma is scheduled to talk at the forum about how to achieve peace with China in ways that differ from the DPP’s approach, his office said on Thursday last week.
Ma’s seeming acceptance of “Taiwan” over “Republic of China” in the corrected title contradicts his stance that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means, DPP Legislator Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) said.
Tsai’s “pragmatic diplomacy” has garnered support for Taiwan from a “global alliance of democratic countries,” while she has met two serving speakers of the US House of Representatives and secured an invitation to the APEC leaders’ summit, Su said.
“The choice put before Taiwan in 2024 will be to follow the worn-out cross-strait policy of Ma from Taipei or President Tsai of Taiwan,” she said. “The right choice cannot be more obvious.”
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
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