TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A meme contrasting a cast of colorful characters striking flamboyant poses around President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) with a sedate Xi Jinping (習近平) maintaining a large social distance from a handful of cadres has gone viral on social media.
On Friday (July 15), Tsai posted a photo of herself smiling with her eyes as she is flanked by designers Li Jheng-han (李政瀚) and Yu Wei (于薇) and members of the design team striking poses as they stood in front of a portrait of Sun Yat-sen (孫中山). Li and Yu were visiting Tsai as they became the first Taiwanese in history to win a Grammy Award in April for designing the artwork for the album "Pakelang."
The album was composed by the group Second Generation Falangao Singing Group and the Chairman Crossover Big Band, which performed for Tsai at the Presidential Office in Taipei that day. The photo of the designers and their wild gestures quickly went viral over the weekend.
Li, Yu, and design team members strike poses with Tsai. (Twitter, Tsai Ing-wen photo)
On Saturday (July 16), Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) uploaded a meme to his Twitter feed with the simple caption "Another reason why Taiwan is not part of China ..." The left side of the meme is labeled "Taiwan" and the date of the artists' visit, July 15, 2022, can be seen above the photo of the designers and Tsai.
On the right side of the meme, it says "China" followed by the date July 1, 2022. Beneath is a photo of Xi taken by a photographer who is so far away that a zoomed-in inset is necessary to show that it is China's chairman standing at a podium.
Xi's speech was delivered at a welcome ceremony on June 30 for the high-speed rail in West Kowloon Station after arriving in the city by train, according to China's state-run mouthpiece the Global Times. Xi was visiting Hong Kong to commemorate the 25th anniversary of its handover from the U.K. to China, having fully crushed pro-democracy protests that were widespread across the city from 2019 to 2020.
A delight to meet #Taiwan’s first ever #Grammy winners, designers Li Jheng-han 李政瀚 and Yu Wei 于薇, & the team behind the album Pakelang. This collaborative work celebrates the musical traditions of Taiwan’s indigenous communities & the magnificent landscapes that shaped them. pic.twitter.com/TyL3lfyWsR
— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) July 15, 2022
Another reason why Taiwan is not part of China... pic.twitter.com/dbC9cPGuAW
— 王定宇 Wang Ting-yu, MP 〔錯誤字元無法儲存〕〔錯誤字元無法儲存〕 (@MPWangTingyu) July 16, 2022
