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.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS