The foreign ministry on Tuesday summoned a senior South Korean official in Taipei to protest the South Korean government’s last minute cancellation of a speech by Taiwan’s Digital Minister Audrey Tang.
Tang was going to speak virtually at the 4th Global Policy Conference on the 4th Industrial Revolution held in Seoul last Thursday. She was one of four speakers scheduled to speak at the "Social Innovation session" during the one-day event that was held both in Seoul and virtually.
Her speech was cancelled just a few hours before the event. The foreign ministry said that the event organizers said the decision was due to cross-strait issues, likely referring to pressure from China.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou said the last minute cancellation without a clear explanation was ‘rude and inappropriate’. Ou said that Taiwan is a sovereign nation and has the right to conduct exchanges with other countries. She said Taiwan will continue to enhance cooperation with democratic countries around the world.
Taiwan’s envoy to South Korea Tang Diann-wen also lodged a protest to the South Korean government on the matter.
Meanwhile, South Korean news agency Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday reported that the decision was made after taking into account various conditions. It also cited that South Korea’s stance of maintaining unofficial and pragmatic exchanges with Taiwan remains unchanged. South Korea’s foreign ministry also denied that China was involved in the matter.