China’s alleged efforts to block Taiwan’s Miss Asia Global representative Kao Man-jung from waving the island’s flag on stage did not stop her from competing in the pageant and taking home awards.
Also known as Maggie Kao, the beauty queen took to Instagram to share images of herself holding the awards for Miss Talent, Miss Online Personality and Miss Diligent. She also landed among the top 20 contestants at the end of the pageant.
“Thank you to the government and my mother who supports me the most,” Kao said, according to Taiwan News. “Thank you to everyone who supports Man-jung. I could not do it without you.”
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry condemned organizers at the 2022 World Congress on Innovation & Technology (WCIT) in Penang, Malaysia, for allegedly preventing Kao from joining other pageant contestants on stage last week.
Taoyuan Department of Information Technology Director-General Karen Yu shared photos and video on Facebook showing Kao wiping away tears during the opening ceremony last Tuesday.
Event organizers later apologized to the beauty queen and said they could not allow her to go on stage because of a “last-minute change,” Yu wrote on the Facebook post.
Featured Image via manjung0217
