Agence France-Presse “British minister in cultural gaffe after giving Taipei mayor 'taboo' watch” http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/27/british-minister-cultural-gaffe-taipei-mayor-taboo-watch
Brother Watch*1ではなくSister Watchの話。
中国人に「時計」を贈ってはいけないということは旅行ガイドの類にも書かれているけれど、要は、
A British minister was left red-faced after giving the mayor of Taipei the gift of a watch – a taboo act in Chinese culture – only for him to joke he would “sell it to a scrap dealer”.Ko Wen-je*2, a high-flying surgeon and mayor of Taiwan’s capital, made the remark after he was handed the pocket timepiece by British transport minister Lady Kramer*3, who was visiting Taiwan on a trade exchange.
When asked by a local reporter to comment on the gift, Ko said he might give the watch to someone else or “sell it to a scrap metal dealer for some money, because it would be useless to me.”
Giving someone a clock or watch as a present is traditionally taboo in Chinese culture due to the similar pronunciation of “giving a clock” and “attending an old person’s funeral”.
時計を贈る＝送鐘表（song zhong biao）
は
葬式に参列する＝送終（song zhong）
と語呂が合ってしまうということ。因みに、「鐘表」は総称で、置き時計や掛け時計のような英語のclockに対応するものを「鐘」といい、腕時計や懐中時計のような携帯するものを「表」という。
クレイマー女男爵の応答；
See also
In response, his British guest tried to play down the embarrassment.“I’m sorry. We learn something new each day. I had no idea a gift like this could be seen as anything other than positive. In the UK a watch is precious – because nothing is more important than time,” she said in a statement.
She also highlighted the significance of the watch, which she termed as a “very unique item” from the House of Lords.
環球時報「柯文哲破銅爤鉄説挨批、英国官員為贈表致歉（組図）」http://news.163.com/15/0127/18/AH03635J000146BE.html
中国語圏では、中国文化を知らない英国人が時計を贈ったことよりも、柯文哲台北市長がその時計をスクラップ*4にして金に換えてやると発言して、品位のない失言であると批判されていることの方が注目されているようだ。
*1:See http://d.hatena.ne.jp/sumita-m/20150126/1422251766
*2:柯文哲。http://kptaipei.tw/ See eg. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_Wen-je http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9F%AF%E6%96%87%E5%93%B2 http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9F%AF%E6%96%87%E5%93%B2 http://baike.baidu.com/view/10880717.htm
*3:http://www.susankramer.co.uk/ See eg. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Kramer,_Baroness_Kramer
*4:See eg. http://dict.baidu.com/s?wd=%E7%A0%B4%E9%93%9C%E7%83%82%E9%93%81
