Being watched over by Chinese security personnel is an “honor” for Taiwanese musicians performing in China, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) said yesterday.
She said any picture could be subject to multiple interpretations after New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) showed a photograph purporting to show ranks of Chinese military police standing by at a concert of a Taiwanese musician.
Lim showed the picture during a question-and-answer session of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee.
“The military police are mainly concerned about the possibility of a riot, because everyone [in the audience] is so high,” Ko said.
She asked Minister of Culture Hung Meng-chi (洪孟啟) if he would dare discourage Taiwanese musicians from performing in China.
“This is an extremely great honor for a singer,” Ko said.
Lim — who is the lead singer of metal band Chthonic, which has been banned from performing in China because of its pro-Taiwanese independence stance — said the picture illustrates the failure of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration to protect the rights of Taiwanese musicians performing in China.
“In eight years, we have never made any concrete demands that the freedom of our singers to perform be protected,” Lim said.
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