The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday decried alleged Chinese interference at the World Congress on Innovation & Technology in Penang, Malaysia, that saw the event’s organizers blocking a Taiwanese beauty queen from joining fellow pageant contestants onstage to greet congress attendees.
The incident, which happened on Tuesday, was exposed in a video uploaded to Facebook later that day by Taoyuan Department of Information Technology Director-General Karen Yu (余宛如).
The opening ceremony of the event on Tuesday featured contestants in the Miss Asia Global International Pageant, which started on Saturday and is to run until the weekend, greeting attendees in their native tongues and waving their national flags.
Photo: CNA
The video posted by Yu shows a congress staff member blocking Taiwanese contestant Kao Man-jung (高曼容) from going onstage, with Kao bursting into tears immediately afterward.
Chinese pressure is believed to be behind the event organizers’ action, which the ministry and Yu criticized.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the ministry strongly condemned China’s bullying of Taiwanese and its intervention in unofficial exchanges, while expressing “regret and frustration” over the “flawed decision” from the event organizers, for which it has asked the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia to issue a protest.
Photo: grab from Karen Yu FB
Taiwan is a sovereign country, and its people have the right to display their national flag at international events, the ministry said.
“China’s bullying is everywhere and has permeated even this information communications technology gala,” Yu said.
The Taiwanese attendees chanted slogans to let the audience know that Taiwan’s Miss Asia Global contestant was there, Yu said.
Photo: grab from FB
Event organizers later apologized to Kao, saying that due to a “last-minute change,” they could not allow her to appear onstage, Yu said.
“MOFA stands with Kao and all Taiwanese in their efforts to speak up for Taiwan in international settings in their respective fields of expertise,” the ministry said in the statement.
Separately yesterday, Frida Tsai (蔡培慧), the Democratic Progress Party’s candidate for Nantou County commissioner in the Nov. 26 local elections, said dictatorship would never prevail over democracy.
It is saddening and infuriating that Kao, a native of Nantou’s Puli Township (埔里), was blocked from appearing onstage at the Penang event due to Chinese pressure, she said, calling on people to express solidarity with Kao.
A tropical depression in waters east of the Philippines could develop into a tropical storm as soon as today and bring rainfall as it approaches, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, while issuing heat warnings for 14 cities and counties. Weather model simulations show that there are still considerable differences in the path that the tropical depression is projected to take. It might pass through the Bashi Channel to the South China Sea or turn northeast and move toward the sea south of Japan, CWA forecaster Yeh Chih-chun (葉致均) said, adding that the uncertainty of its movement is still high,
TAIWANESE INNOVATION: The ‘Seawool’ fabric generates about NT$200m a year, with the bulk of it sourced by clothing brands operating in Europe and the US Growing up on Taiwan’s west coast where mollusk farming is popular, Eddie Wang saw discarded oyster shells transformed from waste to function — a memory that inspired him to create a unique and environmentally friendly fabric called “Seawool.” Wang remembered that residents of his seaside hometown of Yunlin County used discarded oyster shells that littered the streets during the harvest as insulation for their homes. “They burned the shells and painted the residue on the walls. The houses then became warm in the winter and cool in the summer,” the 42-year-old said at his factory in Tainan. “So I was
THE TOUR: Pope Francis has gone on a 12-day visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. He was also invited to Taiwan The government yesterday welcomed Pope Francis to the Asia-Pacific region and said it would continue extending an invitation for him to visit Taiwan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the remarks as Pope Francis began a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific on Monday. He is to travel about 33,000km by air to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, and would arrive back in Rome on Friday next week. It would be the longest and most challenging trip of Francis’ 11-year papacy. The 87-year-old has had health issues over the past few years and now uses a wheelchair. The ministry said
Discounted 72-hour Taipei Metro passes are to be offered to China Airlines passengers until Feb. 28 next year, the airline announced today. China Airlines passengers may present their boarding pass for a discount of up to 34 percent when buying a Taipei Metro 72-hour unlimited travel pass. The offer is available to international travelers on international flights bound for Taipei. Within seven days of arrival, travelers can present their boarding pass, passport and proof of flight payment at an EZfly counter in Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport or Taoyuan MRT Taipei Main Station to obtain the discounted passes, the airline said. One 72-hour pass