Gift packages from the Taipei City Government to World Masters Games competitors included souvenirs made in China, city councilors said.
Competitors received packages that included smartwatches that were difficult to use and required users to use apps from its retailer, Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said, adding that the watches were made in China, in contravention of government regulations.
The watches’ retailer is listed as JSmax Co in Tainan, but it is the same as a China-made smartwatch available on Shopee, Lin said.
Photo: Ho Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Taipei City Councilor Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳) of the Democratic Progressive Party also said coffee cups in the gift packages were falsely labeled, with its country of origin shown as “supervised in Taiwan, made in China.”
Elected representatives passed bylaws stating that “World Masters Games products, souvenirs and official items must not use China-made goods,” Yen said.
Other items in the package are missing labels or have incomplete information, which contravenes the Commodity Labeling Act (商品標示法), she said.
There are no instructions for the souvenir plastic water bottles either, in contravention of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), which requires that containers provide information on the item’s materials and heat-resistant temperature range, she added.
The councilors accused Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of negligence and raised questions about firms selling Games-related souvenirs and items online.
Taipei City Councilor Lin Chen-yu (林珍羽) of the Taiwan People’s Party at a city hall meeting yesterday questioned Chiang about the city government spending NT$3 million (US$99,374) to develop an app for the Games’ participants and audience.
“We received numerous complaints about the app not working, being very difficult to use and lacking updated information,” Lin Chen-yu said. “It is a big waste of taxpayers’ money.”
Chiang said he has heard about the unauthorized selling of Games-related items and that he has tasked officials to look into it.
He also agreed that contractors are not allowed to use China-made products, adding that he would pursue legal action against firms that contravened the signed agreement and government regulations.
Chiang apologized for errors in billboards, which misspelled the city as “Taiipei,” other English-language mistakes in the Games’ promotion and apps, and poorly translated names on the tags of athletes and volunteers.
The World Masters Games’ opening ceremony is set for tomorrow evening.
People are invited to join a street parade at 5:30pm around Taipei City Hall. Traffic control is to begin in the morning before the start of events at the Taipei Dome.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS