The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed its concern to the London School of Economics (LSE) after the school decided to change the design of a campus sculpture to depict Taiwan as part of China.
The ministry has asked its representative office in the UK to demand that the school reconsider the decision, which belittles Taiwan’s sovereign status, spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said.
Lee’s comments came in response to a decision by the LSE to change the painting of a sculpture to show that Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Photo: CNA
On Tuesday last week, the LSE unveiled the new sculpture by the Turner Prize-winning artist Mark Wallinger outside its Saw Swee Hock Student Centre.
The World Turned Upside Down is a large political globe, 4m in diameter, with nation states and borders outlined, but with “the revolutionary twist of being inverted,” according to the LSE Web site.
Most of the landmasses now lie in the “bottom” hemisphere, with nations and cities labeled for this new orientation, it says.
Photo: CNA
However, after the sculpture’s unveiling, Chinese students at LSE noticed that Taiwan was in a different color to China and they protested.
“We are deeply disappointed by this arrangement, and we firmly hold the position that Taiwan is a part of China and the PRC should be the only legal representative of China,” a statement released by Chinese LSE students said.
They called on the school to take action “to prevent any future confusion resulting from the sculpture.”
Taiwanese students at LSE issued their own statement, calling on the school to keep the original design with the Republic of China (ROC) as a separate sovereign state.
“As a sovereign state, the ROC [Taiwan] has its own democratic political institution, and respects the separation of powers and rule of law. We have our own ministries of diplomacy, national defense and interior affairs, with which PRC has no interference,” a letter from the Taiwanese students to the school said.
“Altering the content of the original sculpture not only disrespects the artist, but also denies the fact that the ROC is a sovereign state and further influences the understanding of Taiwan in the LSE community,” it added.
Following a meeting on Wednesday between Taiwanese students and their Chinese counterparts organized by the school, the LSE decided to accept the latter’s proposal to change the globe’s original design by making Taiwan the same color as the PRC.
The school pointed out that all maps released by the UN show Taiwan as a part of the PRC, making it difficult for the Taiwanese students to convince the school to keep the original design, Taiwanese LSE student Huang Li-an (黃立安) said.
The LSE put up a sign beside the sculpture saying that it understood and respected “that strong feelings exist around statehood and identity,” but called on students to engage in respectful exchanges on such issues.
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
‘INDISCRIMINATE’: The drastic changes would delay many national projects as well as undermine global confidence in Taiwan’s resolve to defend itself, the premier said The Legislative Yuan yesterday on third reading passed the central government budget for this year, cutting 6.6 percent from the Executive Yuan’s proposed expenditure — the largest in history. The budget proposal, which the Cabinet approved in August last year, set government spending at NT$3.1325 trillion (US$95.6 billion), with projected revenues of NT$3.1534 trillion — both record highs — working out to a surplus of NT$20.9 billion. On Friday last week, the opposition-led legislature voted to cut NT$93.98 billion from the budget’s general provisions. During a 20-hour continuous session from Monday until yesterday morning, they continued to slash the budgets of government agencies,