A Keelung high school on Saturday night apologized for using a picture containing a Chinese flag on the cover of the senior yearbook, adding that it has recalled the books and pledged to provide students new ones before graduation on Thursday.
Of 309 Affiliated Keelung Maritime Senior High School of National Taiwan Ocean University graduates, 248 had purchased the yearbook.
Some students said that the printer committed an outrageous error in including the picture, while others said that nobody would notice such a small flag on the cover.
Photo courtesy of a reader
Other students said that they cared more about the photographs of classmates and what was inside the yearbook than its cover.
School secretary Cheng Ying-hung (鄭穎鴻) said the cover was designed by a contracted printing company, which offered two to three drafts for the school to choose from.
Following a review by the school administration, students voted for the cover that best represented the school before it was approved for publishing.
The principal holds himself responsible for the incident, while a disciplinary committee would review the actions of personnel involved, Cheng said.
An internal audit would also address the printing error, and school representatives would set up standardized procedures for printing yearbooks, he said.
“We are deeply sorry for the trouble that the incident has caused our students, parents and society. We also thank people for their forgiveness and tolerance for such an error. We will use this incident as an example and make improvements,” he said.
Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) yesterday said that the school administration should recall and apologize, and should not complicate the matter amid tense cross-strait relations.
Attorney Lin Fu-kuei (林富貴) yesterday said the printer might have committed defamation if it intentionally printed a Chinese flag to embarrass the school.
However, unless the printer says that it deliberately added the flag, it would be difficult to prove defamation, especially as the school reviewed the company’s designs before they were published, Lin said.
The school would also likely be unable to win compensation for damages in a lawsuit, as the printer agreed to recall the yearbooks and print news one, he said.
Some legal experts said that even if the printer intentionally altered the cover, it would only represent a breach of contract and not constitute a crime.
Some people had proposed on the Public Policy Participation Network Platform that the government should prohibit the public display of the Chinese flag.
The Ministry of Justice at the time said that freedom of speech is an indispensable mechanism for maintaining the normal development of a democratic and pluralistic society.
“Any restriction by law should conform to the principle of proportionality. However, this proposal is not in line with the constitution’s intention to protect people’s freedom of speech,” the ministry said.
Additional reporting by Wu Sheng-ru
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
DIPLOMACY: It is Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo’s first visit to Taiwan since he took office last year, while Eswatini’s foreign minister is also paying a visit A delegation led by Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo arrived in Taiwan yesterday afternoon and is to visit President William Lai (賴清德) today. The delegation arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 4:55pm, and was greeted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). It is Arevalo’s first trip to Taiwan since he took office last year, and following the visit, he is to travel to Japan to celebrate the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Arevalo said at the airport that he is very glad to make the visit to Taiwan, adding that he brings an important message of responsibility
About 3,000 people gathered at events in Taipei yesterday for an annual candlelight vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, a brutal crackdown by Chinese authorities on a student-led demonstration in Beijing on June 4 36 years ago. A candlelight vigil organized by the New School for Democracy and other human rights groups began at 7pm on Democracy Boulevard outside Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, with the theme "Resist Transnational Repression, Defy Totalitarianism." At about 8pm, organizers announced that about 3,000 people had attended the event, which featured brief speeches by human rights advocates from Taiwan and China, including Hong Kong, as well
RSS