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School band told to
drop national anthem: official
By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
A Taipei junior high school orchestra was forced by a consultant with the
Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission to take the national anthem off its
concert program in Brisbane, Australia, during the orchestra¡¦s Australian tour,
a Taipei City councilor alleged at a press conference yesterday.
The daughter of the commission¡¦s consultant, Chen Chiu-yen (³¯¬î¿P), allegedly
asked the Zhongzheng Junior High School orchestra by telephone the night before
its second Brisbane concert to take the Republic of China¡¦s national anthem, the
opening song on the program, off its set list, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
Taipei City Councilor Chou Wei-you (©P«Â¦ö) said.
¡§The request was an act that belittled Taiwan¡¦s integrity and the students felt
hurt. And this time it was done by a Taiwanese, not Chinese,¡¨ Chou said.
Organizers had asked the orchestra to perform the national anthem, which was
never listed on the program in previous trips abroad, said Lin Li-hui (ªLÄR´f), the
school¡¦s dean of academic affairs, adding that the song was ¡§inadvertently¡¨
taken off.
Lin declined to identify the person behind the decision to scrap the national
anthem, saying she did not accompany the orchestra to Australia.
The orchestra performed the national anthem in its first concert in Brisbane
before being asked to scrap the song in the second concert, DPP Taipei City
Councilor Lee Chien-chang (§õ«Ø©÷) said, citing information provided on condition
of anonymity by the parents of an orchestra member.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (·¨¶i²K) yesterday said the national
anthem was taken off because the students were not ready to perform it,
describing the incident as a ¡§procedural error¡¨ and miscommunication between the
organizer and the orchestra.
The commission said in a press release yesterday that it had met Chen, who was
in Taipei, and reiterated that Chen did not interfere with the orchestra¡¦s
performance, nor had he asked that the national anthem be taken off the program.
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