Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Taiwan Friends of Tibet considering suing Grand Hotel

Taipei Times

Taiwan Friends of Tibet (TFOT) yesterday accused the Grand Hotel of dishonesty in their handling of a row over the cancelation of a conference room to be used for a press conference and the organization said it would consider filing a lawsuit against the hotel.

The TFOT and the Grand Hotel were involved in a dispute on Monday when the hotel unilaterally canceled a reservation for a conference room hours before a press conference was scheduled to start. The TFOT suspected the room reservation was canceled for political reasons, as a Chinese delegation headed by Sichuan Province Governor Jiang Jufeng (蔣巨峰) was to take part in a symposium on business and tourism in the province at the hotel on the same day.

Debacle at WHO erodes Taiwan’s sovereignty

Chen Mei-chin 陳美津

The recent furor over an internal WHO memo downgrading Taiwan to a “province of China” and the government’s inept handling of this matter has set a dangerous precedent that could further erode Taiwan’s international standing.

When the WHO document was first disclosed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) it triggered public outrage.

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was slow to catch on to the implications. Instead, he touted it as one of his administration’s achievements that Taiwan had been able to attend the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer under the name “Chinese Taipei” since 2009. Ma further claimed that his cross-strait policy had secured this goodwill gesture from China.

Marriage reignites Taiwan name row

Taipei Times

A Taiwanese woman and her British husband registered their marriage on Friday in Abiko City in Japan’s Chiba Prefecture only to discover that her nationality was listed as “China” on the marriage certificate, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker said yesterday.

The woman from Pingtung County, surnamed Lee (李), said by telephone that she had objected to the designation of her nationality as Chinese and was told by Japanese authorities that the name was prescribed in its rules and regulations.

Lee said she had submitted her marriage registration in Japan because her husband worked there, but now she worried that Taiwanese authorities would not recognize her marriage certificate.

Tibet support groups, hotel staff clash

Taipei Times

Clashes broke out between Tibet support groups and Grand Hotel staff in the lobby yesterday after the management canceled a room reservation made by the groups in preparation for the arrival of a delegation headed by Sichuan Province Governor Jiang Jufeng (蔣巨峰).

“We have signed a [room rental] contract with you and it was clearly written on the contract that the room would be used to hold a press conference. How can you cancel our reservation at the last minute? Is this how the Grand Hotel honors its business contracts?” Taiwan Friends of Tibet (TFOT) president Chow Mei-li (周美里) asked Grand Hotel manager Michael Chen (陳行中) after being informed of the cancelation.

TFOT’s press conference was to be held 30 minutes before the news conference by Jiang.

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