Taiwan's chapter of Lions Clubs International (LCI) has unexpectedly been given another new temporary name: "Taiwan Area, MD 300."
At Wednesday's opening of the the LCI annual meeting in Osaka, Japan, the chapter was unexpectedly introduced by the new name, rather than just "MD 300," the name LCI had agreed to use temporarily after it scrapped the name "ROC Lions Club," allegedly under Chinese pressure.
"MD300" is the chapter's district number.
A leading member of the chapter told the Taipei Times yesterday that the new name was unacceptable.
"`Taiwan Area' is just a temporary name for us until the dispute over the Taiwan chapter's name is settled." said Danny Hsu (徐明德), former chairman of the chapter.
Hsu said that the dispute over the name and flag would be discussed at an informal meeting between representatives from LCI, Taiwan's chapter and China in August or September.
When asked if the Taiwan chapter would accept "Taiwan Area, MD 300" as the the club's permanent name, Hsu said "no."
"Although `Taiwan Area' sounds more flexible than the name `China Taiwan' given by LCI, the term implies somehow that Taiwan is a area of China, which is unacceptable," Hsu said yesterday.
Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Katherine Chang (
Chang said the ministry would continue to offer assistance to the Taiwan chapter in negotiations on its name and flag.
LCI changed the Taiwan chapter's name in April from "ROC Lions Club" to "China Taiwan Lions Club," without consulting the chapter, after chapters from Guangdong and Shenzhen in China joined.
Since the two new Chinese chapters are named "China Guangdong" and "China Shenzhen," the name " China Taiwan" would suggest it was a part of China, the Taiwan chapter said.
The design of the Taiwan chapter's flag was also changed from Taiwan's national flag with a LCI logo on it to a plum flower on a red, white and blue tricolor.
After protests and negotiations with LCI, the Taiwan chapter agreed on the temporary name "MD 300" and the tricolor for the Osaka meeting.
However, on Tuesday, more than 600 members of the chapter protested outside the convention venue, chanting "Taiwan-Yes, China Taiwan-No" to complain about the change.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese
RSS