Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Taiwan group barred from French event due to China

Taipei Times

An overseas Taiwanese association is seeking public support after it was denied access to a cultural festival set to be held in September in Lyon, France, because of pressure from China.

The Association Culturelle des Taiwanais de Lyon (ACTL), which promotes Taiwan globally, said that the organizer of the Fete des Bannieres du Monde — the festival of world banners — denied its application to participate after Chinese participants threatened to withdraw if Taiwan was allowed entry.

ACTL chairwoman Yang Pei-yu (楊佩瑜) said she was surprised to learn about the rejection, as the event is perceived to have nothing to do with politics.

Politics’ #MeToo moment begins

Taipei Times Editorials

Even though the #MeToo movement was started by US activist Tarana Burke in 2006, Taiwan’s political world has just begun to see its first #MeToo reckoning.

The #MeToo movement gained traction when a former gymnast accused a former coach of sexual assault while she was a junior-high student. The 2017 suicide of Lin Yi-han (林奕含), who turned her experience of alleged sexual assault by a cram school teacher into a novel, also caused an uproar.

The two incidents have encouraged other people to reveal misconduct by teachers and coaches, sparking reform in sports and education.

Taiwan faces its #MeToo moment

Sammuel Tung 董昱輝

The #MeToo movement was started by activist Tarana Burke, who coined the term in 2006. However, it gained traction in 2017, when actress Alyssa Milano urged victims of sexual harassment and assault to share their stories on social media.

Several celebrities did so, as did millions of others in the years that followed. The results were far-reaching — scores of formerly powerful men have been toppled after being accused of sexual assault and harassment, such as movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

The movement is now spreading in Taiwan’s political world. The movement started after a former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) worker in an online post detailed how DPP deputy secretary-general Hsu Chia-tien (許嘉恬) poured cold water on her pleas for help after being sexually harassed and dissuaded her from seeking a full investigation into the incident.

Party urges review of infiltration bill

Taipei Times

The Taiwan Statebuilding Party, alongside Kuma Academy chief executive officer Ho Cheng-hui (何澄輝) and international law expert Sung Cheng-en (宋承恩), yesterday urged the Legislative Yuan to begin reviewing a proposed foreign influence transparency law to prevent Chinese infiltration.

Taiwanese should not tolerate the legislature’s indolence, party Chairman Wang Hsing-huan (王興煥) said.

The ruling and opposition parties are passive regarding efforts to mitigate the influence of Chinese “united front” rhetoric, said Wu Hsin-tai (吳欣岱), director of the Taiwan Statebuilding Party’s Taipei chapter.

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