Despite UNESCO's decision not to publish Taiwanese student Yang Chih-yuan's (
"We feel that Yang had courage in this matter, and we want to let the world know what peace is. Yang worked hard, but his painting will not be published by the United Nations because of pressure from China. We respect what Yang accomplished," said Su Dai-hsiung (蘇達雄), chief of the philatelic section of Chunghwa Post.
Yang, 15, who attends Hsinpu Junior High School, was one of six teenagers who won a recent worldwide contest by UNESCO to mark International Peace Day. While Yang's painting had been selected to be circulated as a commemorative postage stamp, UNESCO disqualified Yang following protests from China. Yang's painting had featured flags from around the world, one of which was Taiwan's flag.
Lions Club International, which had sponsored the poster-designing contest and invited young people from around the world to participate, currently holds the copyright to Yang's drawing. While Chunghwa Postal intends to publish Yang's work, authorization from Lions Club International has yet to be given.
Chen Cheng-te (陳正德), secretary general of the Lions Club's Taiwan chapter, explained that the organization's lawyers were already looking into the legal issues involved in authorizing the local circulation of Yang's work as a stamp, but said that the details had yet to be worked out.
"We conveyed our protest to the UN over this issue already. If the contest is really about peace, should politics be able to intervene?" Chen said. "Large nations should treat smaller nations with compassion and not intimidation. Cross-strait issues should be resolved with wisdom."
Chen admitted however that he could only speak on behalf of the Taiwan chapter, as he was unaware of Lions Club International's stance on the issue.
Su said Chunghwa Post wants to promote an image of peace by publishing Yang's work on commemorative stamps on International Peace Day, Sept. 21.
However, Su explained that Chunghwa Post's handling of the matter would be "low-key," saying that it would avoid mentioning Chinese obstruction of UNESCO's publication of Yang's work.
"We won't make a big deal of what happened for fear of what it could lead to," Su said.
Su added, however, that while the company generally seeks to capitalize on current market trends in its selection of stamp designs, "if there are political needs, we're willing to cooperate." The Presidential Office had earlier suggested that Yang's work be published as a stamp.
"This will be the first student work to be published as a stamp. In the past, we usually chose to use the work of well-known artists," Su said. He said the company had already had plans to encourage artistic endeavor among the nation's youths by publishing selected amateur works as stamps, and that Yang's painting had presented a good opportunity to put this idea into practice.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
New Taipei City prosecutors have indicted a cram school teacher in Sinjhuang District (新莊) for allegedly soliciting sexual acts from female students under the age of 18 three times in exchange for cash payments. The man, surnamed Su (蘇), committed two offenses in 2023 and one last year, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. The office in recent days indicted Su for contraventions of the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒童及少年性剝削防制條例), which prohibits "engaging in sexual intercourse or lewd acts with a minor over the age of 16, but under the age of 18 in exchange for
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty