Minister without portfolio-designate Chang Ching-sen (張景森) yesterday announced he would be closing his Facebook account, saying that it is “not a safe space anymore” and that “people should know I am not the person television talking heads portray me to be.”
Last month, Chang criticized the land justice movement on Facebook, in remarks that proved controversial and resulted in prominent advocates calling for his removal from president-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) provisional Cabinet. Chang later issued an apology over the wording of his comments, but stood by the content.
Premier-designate Lin Chuan (林全) on Friday said that he had “suggested” that Chang close his Facebook account after May 20, when the new administration takes office.
In the post Chang made yesterday, he said that he has been using the platform for five years to keep in touch with friends and network, and that he had maintained a “natural and honest communicative style that is just like I am with friends in private.”
He said that although “Facebook is supposed to be a private space,” when he became a “public figure,” his profile attracted unwanted attention from “paparazzi netizens” who “intruded like voyeurs by taking private conversations and comments out of context and without permission, distorting them to manufacture news.”
His Facebook comments had provided material for “people who are pissed off about Chang Ching-sen, the DPP [Democratic Progressive Party], Tsai, or just pissed off about the economy, the weather or everything, and need to release their emotions by bludgeoning someone,” Chang said, adding: “Facebook is no longer a safe space.”
Chang said that he could “be a phony” by “dressing up” his comments for the benefit of “prying ears” and use his profile as “a public relations bullhorn,” but “marketing” himself is not his “style,” and would “get in the way of making friends.”
The other option is to “take safety precautions” by “deleting all those people who are without loyalty to friends,” but since “people’s hearts are covered by their skins,” and he does not want to isolate himself from “different voices,” which he finds “inappropriate for a public figure,” he is to shut down his account instead.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
NEW WORLD: Taiwan is pursuing innovative approaches to international relations through economics, trade and values-based diplomacy, the foreign minister said Taiwan would implement a “three-chain strategy” that promotes democratic values in response to US tariffs, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said. Taiwan would aim to create a “global democratic value chain,” seek to capitalize on its position within the first island chain and promote a “non-red supply chain,” Lin was quoted as saying in the ministry’s written report to the Legislative Yuan submitted ahead of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting slated for today. The Ministry would also uphold a spirit of mutual beneficial collaboration, maintaining close communication and consultations with Washington to show that Taiwan-US cooperation
Taiwan and the US have begun trade negotiations over tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump earlier this month, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said in an interview this morning before reporting to the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), Taiwan’s de facto embassy in the US, has already established communication channels with the US Department of State and the US Trade Representative (USTR), and is engaging in intensive consultations, he said. Points of negotiation include tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers and issues related to investment, procurement and export controls, he