Beijing is fighting to have an artist’s mural promoting independence for Taiwan and Tibet removed from a brick wall in the small town of Corvallis, Oregon.
Two officials from the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco have written to the mayor of Corvallis about the mural and last week visited the town to lodge a formal complaint.
“As you are aware, the First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees freedom of speech in this country and this includes freedom of artistic expression,” Corvallis Mayor Julie Manning has told them.
She has refused to do anything about the 3m by 30m mural, which was painted last month on the wall of an old building by Taiwanese-born artist Chao Tsung-song (趙宗宋).
The vividly colored mural was commissioned by the building’s owner, Taiwanese-born David Lin (林銘新), who is determined to leave it there.
It depicts “images of Taiwan as a bulwark of freedom,” Chinese riot police beating Tibetan demonstrators and Buddhist monks setting themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule.
The wall on which the mural has been painted is part of a building being redeveloped by Lin as a restaurant.
“There is only one China in the world and both Tibet and Taiwan are parts of China,” the letter to Manning from the Chinese Consulate General said. “To avoid our precious friendship from being tainted by so-called ‘Tibet independence’ and ‘Taiwan independence’ we sincerely hope you can understand our concerns and adopt effective measures to stop the activities advocating ‘Tibet independence’ and ‘Taiwan independence’ in Corvallis.”
After Manning replied saying that she had no authority to regulate art and could do nothing about the mural, Vice Consul Zhang Hao (張浩) and Deputy Consul General Song Ruan (宋如安) visited the town last week.
The two officials met with Manning and City Manager Jim Patterson.
Patterson later told the Corvallis Gazette-Times: “They expressed their concern and the concern of the Chinese government about the mural on Mr Lin’s building. They viewed the message as political propaganda.”
After making it clear that the city could not — and would not — order the mural’s removal, Manning and Patterson agreed to pass on Beijing’s concern to Lin.
“We also had a conversation with them about the US Constitution,” Patterson said.
The Taipei Times was unable to reach officials for comment at the Chinese embassy in Washington or the consulate in San Francisco.
Lin told the Corvallis Gazette-Times that no representatives of the Chinese government had contacted him directly.
However, he said that friends and family were concerned they might face some form of retaliation if they visited China.
“I am under a lot of pressure to take down the mural, but have no plans to do anything of the sort,” he said. “I’ll just keep it the same, I’ve got to live my life, that’s all.”
Lin was born and raised in Taiwan and went to the US in the 1970s.
He said that he was a strong supporter of a free Tibet and an independent Taiwan.
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
RSS