The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday expressed indignation after the Delphi Economic Forum changed former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) title to the “former leader of Taipei” on its Web site.
The forum’s “deliberate use of a wrong title for former president Ma is profoundly inappropriate and uncourteous” for an organization based in the democratic nation of Greece, Presidential Office spokeswoman Olivia Lin (林聿禪) said.
The event organizers should correct the mistake immediately, Lin said.
Photo: CNA
On Tuesday, the Web site of the Greek forum reapplied the erroneous title for Ma, two days after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs protested the phrase, which prompted the organizers to recognize him as “former president of Taiwan.”
Ma has an obligation to uphold the nation’s dignity and sovereignty as a former president attending an international forum, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a news conference in Taipei.
“The forum’s use of the incorrect title was extremely impolite and insulting to Ma, and posed a test of the former president’s character,” Chen said. “I believe most people would not accept the invitation to an event that repeatedly changed their title.”
Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) said on the sidelines of a legislative session that important public figures should refuse to accept belittlement of Taiwan.
If the nation is belittled and efforts to address the issue have been exhausted, then the public figure “will have to make a decision for themselves,” he said.
The ministry on Tuesday conveyed its stern protest to the forum’s organizers, saying that any act by a non-governmental group that debases Taiwan is unacceptable.
Ma should reassess the proprietary of his planned attendance at the forum in light of the organizer’s failure to rectify the incorrect title, the ministry said.
Ma Ying-jeou Foundation executive director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) later on Tuesday said that Ma should not be held responsible for the incompetence of the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) if it is unable to deal with the problem.
“Ma’s responsibility as a private citizen is to create opportunities that would let the world hear the voice of Taiwan,” Hsiao said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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