Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Bill Sun (
At a press conference held at the legislature, Sun said Thailand's Trade and Economic Office in Taipei twice turned down his application for a visa in July, forcing him to cancel a planned trip to attend a conference in Bangkok last month.
According to the lawmaker, he was not the only Taiwanese official who had been denied a visa. Thailand recently rejected visa the applications of Examination Yuan President Yao Chia-wen (
Chen, Sun said, was planning to join a conference on labor in Thailand this month.
"Why is Thailand afraid of issuing visas for Taiwanese officials? Is it afraid that by doing so it will anger China? Is Thailand China's lackey?" Sun said.
The lawmaker asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to arrange a meeting between him and Thailand's representative to Taiwan, Nualpan Mahakun, to discuss the visa issue last Friday. The meeting, however, did not take place.
"Ministry officials told me they couldn't arrange the meeting. The ministry should protest firmly to Thai officials. The Thailand Trade and Economic Office here should apologize to Taiwan," Sun said.
If no apology is given, Sun said he will stage a demonstration in front of the Thailand Trade and Economic Office protesting what he called the country's discrimination against Taiwan.
"Many Taiwanese tourists travel to Thailand every year. Our government imports a lot of workers from Thailand. Both help Thailand's economy a great deal. Thailand, however, still treats Taiwan unfairly," he said.
Sun also urged the public not to travel to Thailand and said he will request the government reduce the number of Thai workers if Thailand does not apologize.
Ministry spokesman Michel Lu (
"We hope Taiwan and Thailand can work through this issue. We hope the two countries can improve ties," Lu said.
Sun said he revealed the incident to the media because his request that the ministry speak to Thai officials on his behalf apparently went nowhere.
Thailand and Taiwan have maintained at best shaky relations. Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) once labelled Thailand as an "unfriendly nation."
The Thailand Trade and Economic Office officials were not available for comment yesterday.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
RSS