The Taiwan Folk Music Ensemble (TFME), a group composed of the Taipei Modern Dance Group as well as students and teachers from the greater Taipei area, earlier this week accused China of attempting to pressure it into performing under the Chinese national flag.
Ensemble leader Liu Yu-chia (劉育嘉) said that for an upcoming month-long series of performances in Europe, his group had been asked by the International Council of Organizations for Folklore Festivals and Folk Art (CIOFF) to attend under the five-star red flag.
Taiwan is the only Asian country that received an invitation to perform at this year’s cultural festival in Portugal and Spain, and the group plans to depart on Friday, Liu said.
“However, Taiwan is not China. We are performing abroad so that people can get to know Taiwan, so it’s impossible for us to agree to use the Chinese flag,” he said.
Taiwan became a member of the CIOFF in 1994, with Taipei-based Lanyang Dancers being the contact between Taiwanese performance groups and the council.
A secretary at Lanyang Dancers surnamed Wu said this was the first time that a group had been asked to use the Chinese flag, adding that: “The CIOFF should be very clear that we are Taiwan.”
Wu said that following past tradition, Taiwan would use the Chinese Taipei flag, as it does in Olympics games.
Liu said his group’s performance in Italy last year received high praise for its traditional music and dance performances. The national name “Taiwan,” as well as the Republic of China (ROC) flag, was printed on performance hall billboards and the stage, giving the country international attention.
TFME art director Yeh Jui-chi (葉瑞琦) said that earlier this year, the ROC flag and the national name “Taiwan” appeared on the event’s Web site next to the performance group’s name.
“Our group members were so excited about it that they printed the page out as keepsakes,” Yeh said.
However, the CIOFF phoned them recently and said that as Taiwan was not a country, it could not use a national flag, and could only use the Chinese flag or the CIOFF flag instead, Liu said.
Liu speculated pressure from Beijing was behind the change of policy.
As his group would definitely not accept using the Chinese flag, it opted for the CIOFF flag in the end, Liu said.
“But of course our national name and flag were withdrawn from CIOFF’s Web site as well,” he said.
Dance teacher Chiu Ying-jie (邱瀅潔) said that her purpose of bringing students abroad — in addition to bringing attention to Taiwan — is to also foster a national identification in her students.
“I will still bring along a Taiwanese flag, so that the world can get to know Taiwan more whenever there is a chance,” she said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
Taiwanese barista Xie Yi-chen (謝溢宸) recently triumphed at the 2024 World Coffee Championships, taking home 1st place in the World Latte Art category. Xie, 28, impressed the judges in the final round with patterns of a whale, a moose, and a dragon in the three-day competition that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark from June 27-29, clinching the title of latte art world champion during his first time representing Taiwan on the world stage. At a press conference held by the Taiwan Coffee Association on Thursday, Xie said that creating latte art gives him a tremendous feeling of achievement. Speaking about his entries in
TRAVEL CONVENIENCE: The program is to shorten wait times while passing through airport checks and would start for Taiwanese from January next year Japan is to launch a new program to expedite entry procedures for Taiwanese starting from January next year. The Japanese government is planning to introduce new rules to shorten the time it takes foreign travelers to pass through immigration, thereby attracting more tourists to visit, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported yesterday. An airport preclearance program would be implemented to allow foreign travelers to finish some screenings at their departure airport’s terminals and undergo simple confirmation procedures upon arrival, it said. The program would initially be applied to travelers from Taiwan from January next year and could be extended to travelers from elsewhere depending
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to