Five Cities in Taiwan Fight for Taiwan's Identity in International Organization
What you need to know
The mayor of Kaohsiung, along with Taichung, Tainan and Taipei, signed the letter of protest to the secretary general of ICLEI. As mentioned in the letter, Kaohsiung and the other four cities work hard to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and have made good achievements. There is no reason for the cities to accept the mistake made by ICLEI, which may disrupt the friendship between both sides.
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The Compact of Mayors, launched at the 2014 United Nations Climate Summit last September, noted Kaohsiung as a city of China in a press release. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu says she cannot accept this and has sent a letter of protest to the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), asking to amend the country’s name to “Chinese Taipei,” otherwise Kaohsiung will quit the Compact of Mayors.
Apple Daily reports, including more than 1,200 cities, ICLEI is an international organization for environment protection. Some of its member cities make up the Compact of Mayors, in which Kaohsiung is included.
CNA reports, Tainan Mayor Lai Ching-te says that in the press release issued by ICLEI, 20 cities in the world have passed the criteria of the Compact of Mayors, including Tainan City. However, the online press release listed, “Tainan, China (including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Chinese Taipei).”
Lai says that Tainan registers in all projects or competitions under the name, “Chinese Taipei.” He says that the mistake made by ICLEI should be immediately corrected; otherwise the Tainan City Government will refuse to attend any relevant activities held in Paris this December and will even consider quitting the Compact of Majors.
The mayor of Kaohsiung, along with Taichung, Tainan and Taipei, signed the letter of protest to the secretary general of ICLEI. As mentioned in the letter, Kaohsiung and the other four cities work hard to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and have made good achievements. There is no reason for the cities to accept the mistake made by ICLEI, which may disrupt the friendship between both sides.
SET reports, the Compact of Mayors revised the press release at 9 pm on October 26 and “China” has been changed to “Chinese Taipei.” Yet, the web page of the press release, “Celebrating achievements of the Compact of Mayors – cities and towns in focus,” could not be found for a period of time.
Translated by Wen-yee Lee
Edited by Olivia Yang
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