Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) yesterday apologized for a comic strip designed to promote an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China after it drew the ire of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Yiin said there had been no intention to discriminate against anyone after Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) said a character in the cartoon mocked people from Tainan.
Saying that he was born in Tainan, Yiin called on people “who harbor ulterior motives” to stop turning the matter into an ethnic issue.
“The [controversy] should stop here. I hope that political figures will not blow the issue out of proportion,” Yiin said.
In the comic strip, Yi-ge (一哥), a Hoklo speaker from Tainan, is described as knowing little about the ECFA or economic matters. He is said to be a salesman.
He has a vocational school education, speaks “Taiwanese Mandarin” and is usually content to follow others. But when it comes to protecting himself, he “goes all out.” The profile says he is the kind of person who talks tough but never takes action.
In contrast, a female Hakka character named Fa-sao (發嫂) is active, self-motivated and highly capable. Her profile says she has a thirst for knowledge and knows what the ECFA is about.
Yiin said the ministry would review the process it used to create promotional material.
He said that ministry officials in charge of promotional material added the background to Yi-ge at the last moment to “brighten up” the comic strip and did not take the matter to superiors for approval before doing so.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
RSS