CATCHING FIRE: The famed baker faced outrage and accusations from Taiwanese and Chinese netizens questioning his politics on independence
Taipei Times
Date: Dec 12, 2018
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday urged China to remove political prerequisites
Award-winning Taiwanese baker Wu Pao-chun, left, accompanied by Kaohsiung mayor-elect Han Kuo-yu, right, talks to reporters in Kaohsiung after sparking a political controversy with his “one China” statement. Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
from cross-strait exchanges after renowned Taiwanese baker Wu Pao-chun (吳寶春) faced calls for a boycott when he identified himself as a “baker born in Taiwan, China,” apparently for fear of being branded an independence supporter.
Tsai said she does not blame Wu, but the “serious matter” underscores China’s political distortion of economic and trade activities.
“The situation exists not only in our everyday lives, but also around the world. It is a matter of shared concern with the international community, but Taiwan is standing on the front lines and should be particularly alert to it,” Tsai told reporters at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
Taiwanese have time and again given standard statements due to perceived coercion, Tsai said. [FULL STORY]
