Taiwan's character of the year unveiled

The character "黑" ("black") has been chosen as the character of the year in Taiwan.

(ECNS) -- "黑" ("black") has been chosen as the character of the year in Taiwan following a series of food safety and political scandals.

This is the seventh annual poll to choose a character best representing the island's year. After 21 days 62,607 votes were collected via phone, with "黑" accounting for 20% of the total.

"黑" reflects the depression and restlessness felt by people in Taiwan, said the United Daily News, a newspaper that co-organized the survey.

"We should find the right way forward and walk out of darkness to a bright future," the newpaper's editor-in-chief commented.

This year is also the first time that the Chinese character "愛" or "love" was absent from all 60 candidates.

"Next year, let's bring '愛' back," said Sophia Huang, chairman of SOGO Department Store, Far Eastern Group.

The top 10 characters all relate to negative events over the past twelve months and include: 黑 (black), 餿 (sour), 油 (oil), 怒 (anger), 食 (food), 假 (falsehood), 偽 (fake), 混 (chaos), 怨 (resentment) and 崩 (collapse).