An alliance of civic organizations and a media outlet yesterday launched a competition to design a new flag and write a new anthem to replace the ones used by Taiwan in international sports competitions, saying that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and China have caused Taiwan to settle for the “ridiculous” name of “Chinese Taipei.”
The top prize in the flag competition is NT$100,000, while the runner-up will receive NT$30,000. The top prize for the anthem is NT$150,000, with the runner up to get NT$30,000.
Taiwan People News chairman Chen Yung-hsin (陳永興) said that Beijing has intensified efforts to suppress Taiwan, making the nation unable to join international organizations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Taiwan has also been forced to use “Chinese Taipei” for its teams at international competitions, a name that does not reflect the “status quo,” he said.
Chen said that a “Let Taiwan be Taiwan” campaign was launched in Japan for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, which has garnered more than 50,000 signatures.
This has given Taiwanese all the more reason to rise up and speak for themselves, he said.
The organizers have produced videos to draw attention to the two contests in Mandarin and Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese).
“Aborigines, immigrants old and new, no matter where you are from or which tribe you represent, we are all Taiwanese and live on this island together,” the videos say.
“Taiwan is home to some of the world’s great athletes. They have won glory and honor in many international games after years of demanding physical and mental training. However, they cannot declare to the world in a dignified manner that: ‘I am Taiwanese,’ or ‘We are Team Taiwan,’” they say.
The “lies the KMT told” were why the nation was forced to settle for the “strange” and “ridiculous” name of “Chinese Taipei,” the Mandarin version says.
“It was a mistake that was made in the past and the lies that China told that led to the nation’s plight,” the Hoklo version says.
New Power Party Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said there is still room for Taiwan to be seen and heard at international sports competitions, from the design of a new flag or anthem, to athletes’ uniforms.
“A lot of creativity comes from the private sector, which is a more appropriate agent of change,” he said.
Competition organizers said they would accept flag and anthem proposals for the Tokyo Games from now until Dec. 5, adding that ideas must include the creator’s biography, previous work and titles, the size of their designs and a 100 to 120-character description of what inspired their submission.
In scoring for the winners, 50 percent will be the results of an online poll hosted by the newspaper, and 50 percent from a group of professional judges.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
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
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS