The Mainland Affairs Council and lawmakers yesterday accused a visiting Chinese university student of denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty by referring to the national baseball team that won a first-ever Premier12 title as “China, Taipei team” (中國台北隊).
“We deeply regret the Chinese student’s words, that have hurt the feelings of Taiwanese... The Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, as the organizers, should remind group members not to use inappropriate words and behavior,” a council statement said.
“We hope these young Chinese can accurately observe the true views of Taiwanese, which would be a positive development for interactions between young people on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait,” it said.
Photo: Hsu Kuo-chen, Taipei Times
A group of 40 Chinese university students and faculty members arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday last week for a nine-day trip at the invitation of the foundation established by former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
When touring the baseball stadium in Taichung on Sunday, one of the students, Song Siyao (宋思瑤) from Shanghai’s Fudan University, was interviewed by reporters and asked her thoughts on Taiwan winning the Premier12 baseball competition.
“We want to congratulate the China, Taipei team,” she said. “We wish mainland China and Taiwan compatriots [台灣同胞] can be like the team Chinatrust Brothers and work together for the motherland [祖國] to take baseball to a higher level.”
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) denounced the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, saying it organized the visit on the pretext of academic exchanges and interactions between students, when in reality it is engaging in Chinese political propaganda by using “united front” rhetoric.
“If they are engaging in proper and healthy interactions here, why would the Chinese student talk about the ‘China, Taipei team’ and hurting the public’s feelings,” Wu said. “When they are here, they can enjoy Taiwan’s democratic system, academic freedoms and a society full of diversity. We hope they can take those perspectives back to China.”
Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎), director of Taiwan Forever Society, also criticized the student.
“The Chinese students are forceful in barging their way into Taiwan and belittling our national baseball team as the ‘China, Taipei team.’ This is ‘united front’ rhetoric aimed at denying Taiwan’s status and disparaging Taiwanese baseball,” he said.
“Ma owes an apology to all Taiwanese baseball fans... He has created this stage for Chinese students to attack Team Taiwan and he is the mastermind behind this controversy, while we the taxpayers are still paying for his pension and for his protection as a former president,” he added.
The incident also sparked a furor online, with Taiwanese posting angry messages on baseball and sports Web sites.
“Our baseball winners are Team Taiwan, we don’t know who ‘China, Taipei team’ are,” one user wrote.
“This female student has nice smile and talks sweetly, but her words are nauseating,” another wrote.
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are
NEW YEAR’S ADDRESS: ‘No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path,’ William Lai said, urging progress ‘without looking back’ President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday urged parties across the political divide to democratically resolve conflicts that have plagued domestic politics within Taiwan’s constitutional system. In his first New Year’s Day address since becoming president on May 20 last year, Lai touched on several issues, including economic and security challenges, but a key emphasis was on the partisan wrangling that has characterized his first seven months in office. Taiwan has transformed from authoritarianism into today’s democracy and that democracy is the future, Lai said. “No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path for Taiwan,” he said. “The only choice
CORRUPTION: Twelve other people were convicted on charges related to giving illegal benefits, forgery and money laundering, with sentences ranging from one to five years The Yilan District Court yesterday found Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) guilty of corruption, sentencing her to 12 years and six months in prison. The Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office in 2022 indicted 10 government officials and five private individuals, including Lin, her daughter and a landowner. Lin was accused of giving illegal favors estimated to be worth NT$2.4 million (US$73,213) in exchange for using a property to conduct activities linked to the 2020 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential and legislative election campaigns. Those favors included exempting some property and construction firms from land taxes and building code contraventions that would have required
TECH CORRIDOR: Technology centers and science parks in the south would be linked, bolstering the AI, semiconductor, biotech, drone, space and smart agriculture industries The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a “Southern Silicon Valley” project to promote the development of an artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor industry in Chiayi County, Tainan, Pingtung County and Kaohsiung. The plan would build an integrated “S-shaped semiconductor industry corridor” that links technology centers and science parks in the south, Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said yesterday after a Cabinet meeting. The project would bolster the AI, semiconductor, biotech, drone, space and smart agriculture industries, she said. The proposed tech corridor would be supported by government efforts to furnish computing power, workforce, supply chains and policy measures that encourage application and integration
RSS