bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Taiwan has apologised for the vulgar language used by its foreign minister when criticising his Singaporean counterpart for saying the island was taking a dangerous path towards independence.

Mark Chen Tan-sun had described Singapore as a country the size of 'dried mucus'.

Cabinet spokesman Chen Chi-mai and Su Tseng-chang,  the secretary-general to the president, called his language inappropriate.

Mr Chen made the comments at a Monday meeting with a group of pro-independence activists who wanted to change the island's official title to 'Taiwan'. He got carried away in attacking Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo,   for hitting out at Taiwan in the UN General Assembly last Friday.

Mr Yeo said the island's push towards independence was dangerous because it would lead to war with the mainland and drag in other countries. He added that 'at stake is the stability of the entire Asia-Pacific region'.

An angry Mr Chen shocked his guests by saying: 'Even a country the size of dried mucus brazenly criticised Taiwan ...  in the United Nations.'

A spokesman for Taiwan's Foreign Ministry, Michel Lu Ching-lung,  said yesterday: 'The foreign minister offered his sincere apology to whoever finds those words uncomfortable.'

Mr Lu said Mr Chen meant no ill intention when he uttered the words while using grass-roots language during his meeting with a group of visitors. He also said his ministry had later got in touch with Singapore to explain what had happened and that there were no hard feelings between the two sides.

The remarks drew wide criticism from legislators.

John Chang Hsiao-yen, former foreign minister and now legislator of the opposition Kuomintang, said the appointment of Mr Chen as foreign minister was a bad move by the Taiwanese government.

Repeated improper comments by senior officials, including Premier Yu Shyi-kun, have raised concerns from legislators and academics that the government must be careful in its words or it risks damaging Taiwan's international image and relations with other countries.



Taipei says sorry for minister's outburst at Singapore