The Foreign Minirstry. (CNA file photo)

Taipei, Jan. 16 (CNA) The Foreign Ministry said Saturday it has intervened in the controversy surrounding Tzuyu (or Chou Tzuyu, 周子瑜), the only Taiwanese member of the South Korean girl group Twice, who apologized earlier for waving a Republic of China (Taiwan) flag on a TV show that drew an angry response from fans in China.

The ministry said it has asked its representative office in South Korea to contact both Tzuyu and her company to see if there is any problem it could help address, and extended the Taiwanese people's support for the 16-year-old singer.

Just hours before the Taiwanese people were to elect their new president and legislators, a video clip was released late Friday in which Tzuyu said that "there is only one China... I have always felt proud of being Chinese."

Reading from a prepared text with her voice shaking, she said that she has "hurt the feelings of the company and netizens due to my inappropriate words and actions during overseas promotions. I feel very, very sorry and guilty."

The apology was issued out of the singer's management company's considerations for its own business interests, the ministry said.

There is nothing wrong with Tzuyu displaying her country's flag, the ministry said, adding that it sympathizes with her for the pressure that she has been subjected to.

(By Tang Pei-chun and Lee Hsin-Yin)
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