[The lengths to which Blacks take racism is ridiculous. They are offended by drawings of them in loin cloths? Ministers in the South African paraliament have worn loin cloths during traditional gathering. The problem is what? What? Blacks sure as hell weren’t wearing suits and ties when we arrived here. Jan]

Taipei – Taiwan has instructed its ambassadors in seven African nations to apologise for a racist design on cups that offended African diplomats, a Taiwan newspaper said on Thursday.

The Foreign Ministry instructed Taiwan ambassadors in the seven African nations to explain the incident to prevent it from snowballing into a major incident, the Liberty Times reported.

The incident occurred on April 7 when the Foreign Ministry took foreign diplomats on a tour of southern Taiwan. When the diplomats sat down for a meal, they saw that their cups were printed with animals and a man in loin-cloth identified in English as an “African native”.

The ambassadors of Taiwan’s seven African allies walked out of the dining hall and lodged a protest with the Foreign Ministry about the racist illustration on the cups.

On Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Ching-lung said the incident was a sheer misunderstanding, the ministry had apologised to the African envoys and they accepted the apology.

Taiwan is recognised by only 25 mostly-small nations, and seven of them are in Africa. Several lawmakers warned that the “cup incident” could jeopardise Taiwan’s ties with its African allies. – dpa

Source: News24.Com
URL: http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2…/p>