TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A video surfaced on Tuesday (Sept. 13) showing a Taiwanese beauty queen being blocked from taking the stage at a technology conference in Malaysia out of fear of upsetting China.
Karen Yu (余宛如), former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator and current director of Taoyuan City's Department of Information Technology, attended the opening ceremony of the 2022 World Congress on Innovation and Technology (WCIT), which was held in Penang, Malaysia. While Miss Asia Global contestants from around the world were welcomed to take the stage as "Ambassadors of the WCIT" and greet the guests in their own language.
On a Facebook post uploaded on Tuesday, Yu wrote that attendees from Taiwan were eager to see their representative, Kao Man-jung (高曼容, Maggie Kao), Miss Chinese World 2021 and Miss Taiwan (Miss Chinese Taipei) 2017/2018, take the stage. However, before she was able to walk onto the stage, Kao was suddenly held back by the organization's handlers.
Yu wrote that she was initially confused about Kao's mysterious exclusion from the activity. However, once she saw the women come on stage and wave their national flags, she realized that Kao had been blocked to prevent her from waving Taiwan's flag out of deference to China.
Kao (center) cries as she is told she can't take the stage. (Facebook, Karen Yu photo)
As Yu recorded the incident with her smartphone, Kao could be seen crying. According to Yu, Taiwanese attendees cheered "Taiwan Go!" in English to show their support for Kao and to enable the other guests to realize that a Taiwanese beauty queen was also present.
After the incident, Yu stated that she found Kao and offered comfort and encouragement. The organizer of WCIT also came to apologize to Kao, wrote Yu.
The organizer claimed that they were also told at the last minute that they were not to allow the Taiwanese beauty queen to take the stage. "The reasons are well known to everyone. China's unreasonable suppression is unbearable for democratic countries, and we have a long way to go," wrote Yu.
She closed by stating that Taiwan must "continue to work hard with our friends in democratic countries. We must unite and support each other."
Organizers of WCIT have yet to respond to a request from Taiwan News to explain why Kao was excluded from the event.
