A Chinese delegate attending the closing ceremony of the biennial International Council of Nurses meeting in Singapore on Tuesday reached across other delegates on stage to cover up the Taiwanese delegate’s name badge.
A video showing the incident was posted on Tuesday on the Facebook page of Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ching-min (陳靜敏), who is also deputy director of the Taiwan Nurses Association.
In the video, Chinese delegate Wu Ying (吳瑛) reaches across the US delegate to flip over the name badge of association vice president Huang Lien-hua (黃璉華) to prevent the Republic of China (ROC) flag on the badge from being seen.
“China is too afraid of Taiwan being seen by the international community,” Chen said in a statement posted on Facebook.
China had initially told the council it would boycott the meeting if it did not force Huang to use the Chinese national flag on her badge, she said.
Huang was allowed to keep her badge unchanged and attend the ceremony after strongly protesting the demand, she added.
The Chinese delegate’s behavior was “clearly malicious and irrational,” and was caught on camera for everyone to see, she said.
This year’s meeting was attended by 5,310 people, including 419 Taiwanese nurses who presented their theses on healthcare, the association said.
Despite the incident, the association said the meeting was a success for Taiwanese nurses, who had the chance to share their professional experience and research with colleagues from different countries.
The International Council of Nurses was established in 1899 in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 135 members.
The Taiwan Nurses Association is a formal member of the organization, which accepts only one nursing association per country.
The coast guard drove away 567 Chinese boats and seized seven illegally operating in Taiwanese waters in the first six months of this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. They mostly operated near Kinmen and Penghu counties, resulting in fines totaling NT$1.7 million (US$52,440), it said. Three ships — two near Kinmen County and one near Penghu County — were detained in January for illegally crossing the border, while one ship each was detained near Kinmen in February and Penghu in March respectively, it said. The ship seized near Penghu in January was the Yun Ao (雲澳), detained by the CGA’s
Military photovoltaic projects have been found to have used Chinese-made devices blacklisted by the government, including Huawei Technologies Co routers, the Ministry of National Defense’s Armaments Bureau said on Thursday. An ongoing investigation has identified the illegal use of 128 current transformers, two routers and a data reader at the Hungchailin Army Base, Pinghai Navy Base and Tri-Service General Hospital’s Songshan branch, it said. The devices were manufactured in the Chinese factories of German solar energy equipment supplier SMA Solar Technology, Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Delta Electronics Co, Chinese electronics manufacturer Huawei and Taiwanese industrial PC maker Advantech Co, the bureau said. The bureau’s
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
Beijing’s recent provocative actions against the Philippines in the South China Sea were partly meant as a “dress rehearsal” for the invasion of Taiwan, former US deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger said at a Heritage Foundation forum in Washington on Tuesday. Beijing’s blocking of a Philippine resupply mission on June 17 with unprecedented violence had multiple implications. “What they’re doing is trying to demonstrate that they can blockade, create a sense of futility and discredit the idea that the United States is going to help not only the Philippines, but by extension Taiwan,” Pottinger said. Pottinger was referring to a clash