Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/03/09
By: Chen Ja-fo, Yeh Su-ping and Chung Yu-chen
Taipei, March 9 (CNA) Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) on Saturday apologized for a recent
Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜)/CNA file photo
remark in which he referred to Filipinos as “Marias,” saying the term, considered by many to be a racial slur, was a slip of the tongue.
The mayor said he did not intend to denigrate the Filipino people, according to a statement from Kaohsiung City Government.
Han was sorry for the misunderstanding caused by his misuse of the term and said he looks forward to future cooperation with the Philippines, it added.
Responding to a proposal that Taiwan could hire bilingual Filipino white-collar workers at a conference on Wednesday, the mayor said employing “Marias” as teachers would be a psychological shock for Taiwanese. [FULL STORY]