A decision by the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) Student Association to remove a Republic of China (ROC) flag during a recent forum attended by a group of students from China has sparked a campus controversy.
The association drew widespread criticism from within the school after an association staffer took away an ROC flag displayed at a school auditorium minutes before a speech by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) on Dec. 10.
Chiang was scheduled to deliver a speech entitled “Humans Rights and Diplomacy” at the invitation of the association. A group of students from Tianjin University visiting the school also attended the occasion.
A video clip posted by an anonymous person on YouTube showed a Cheng Kung student protesting the removal and saying “the association should have had the guts to show the students from Tianjin University that we in Taiwan do have a national flag.”
The clip shows the moderator of the speech denying that the flag had been there. The moderator then asks the protester to respect the rights of other attendees.
Chiang tells the protester: “I don’t know if the flag was there, but we are in Taiwan ... Just let it go.”
The incident was brought up the next day at the university’s latest student rights forum.
Lin Hung-yi (林宏易), a student representative, questioned the need for the association to remove the flag.
Lin described the removal as a “political incident,” adding that there was “political ideology” behind the decision to take the flag away.
He said the association should have dealt with the matter with more caution and maturity.
In response to the criticism, Tsai Cheng-han (蔡承翰), deputy chief of the association’s international affairs department, said it was a “general rule” among international student organizations that national flags should not be displayed during exchanges with students from different countries.
He said the association’s removal of the flag was in line with the rule.
Another department staffer called the association’s removal of the flag “inappropriate,” but said the association had been trying to prevent the speech from becoming politicized.
When asked for comment, university secretary-general Lee Wei-hsien (李偉賢) said the school authorities did not know that the association would remove the flag.
Lee called the flag’s removal “unnecessary,” adding that the school would seek to prevent a repeat of the incident.
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: As some roads would be fully or partially closed, people are advised to take the MRT, with services expanded to accommodate more riders This year’s Taipei Marathon, which has obtained its first gold label certification from World Athletics, is to be held from 5am to 1pm tomorrow and would have 28,000 participants. The race is to start from the Taipei City Plaza and would go through major roads throughout the city, with traffic control implemented from 6am to 2pm, officials said. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and New Taipei City MRT Circle line would start operating at 5am on the day of the race, they said. The race would cover Renai Road, Xinyi Road, Hangzhou S Road, Aiguo east and west roads,
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
RSS