The annual Golden Horse Film Festival awards ceremony was held in Kaohsiung yesterday. Because the organizers had invited several Chinese actors and wanted to avoid political conflict, they did not invite President Chen Shui-bian (
Things are, however, not that simple. Chinese films are registered to participate in the festival, and last year's best actor and actress, who had agreed to participate, are also Chinese. Once the debate over whether to invite Chen surfaced, they immediately withdrew their participation. This was obviously due to China-related political factors. The organizers clearly do not consider national sovereignty, and are guilty of nothing short of belittling Taiwan. It is sad to see the Golden Horse Film Festival come to this.
Arthur Iap (
We agree. By accommodating China, the organizers are letting it use Taiwanese government funds to wage a war of cultural unification on Taiwan.
The Golden Horse Awards ceremony is a grand occasion in film circles. But the meaning of the annual awards has become distorted, turning both government and organizers into losers. In future, perhaps film circles should reconsider the value of the festival's continued existence. The government should also review whether there are other ways to boost the local movie industry, apart from funding the festival.
Why does Taiwan's film industry indulge China this way? The only explanation is that they harbor unrealistic dreams about the China market. That audience of 1.2 billion people has featured in their fantasies as they have searched for a source of new vitality since Taiwan's own film market went into recession.
Taiwan long ago opened its doors to allow imports of Chinese movies, but only last year, after striving for 12 years to break into the China market, was one Taiwanese movie imported by China -- after passing through mandatory censorship for ideologically sensitive material. The door to the China market remains firmly closed.
Even if the exchanges are one-sided, however, Taiwan's film circles are willing to accept setbacks with resignation and try to accommodate China to win favor. They compete for opportunities to cooperate with China in producing films or strive for the rights to distribute Chinese films. How ludicrous!
The salaries of the Golden Horse film festival organizers come largely from Taiwanese taxpayer's pockets. But for fear of offending China, they repeatedly debase themselves and even threaten to call off the show.
One is left feeling that they are ignorant and crass. If we let this group continue to steer Taiwan's film world, it's very hard to feel optimistic that better days will follow. The time has come for a thorough overhaul.
If the people in Taiwan's film circles pledge their allegiance to China's communist regime, we advise the government not only to stop subsidizing the Golden Horse Film Festival, but also to get rid of the awards all together. Beginning next year, let the organizers go participate in Chinese film festivals -- that is, if Beijing will let them.
It is employment pass renewal season in Singapore, and the new regime is dominating the conversation at after-work cocktails on Fridays. From September, overseas employees on a work visa would need to fulfill the city-state’s new points-based system, and earn a minimum salary threshold to stay in their jobs. While this mirrors what happens in other countries, it risks turning foreign companies away, and could tarnish the nation’s image as a global business hub. The program was announced in 2022 in a bid to promote fair hiring practices. Points are awarded for how a candidate’s salary compares with local peers, along
China last month enacted legislation to punish —including with the death penalty — “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists.” The country’s leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), need to be reminded about what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has said and done in the past. They should think about whether those historical figures were also die-hard advocates of Taiwanese independence. The Taiwanese Communist Party was established in the Shanghai French Concession in April 1928, with a political charter that included the slogans “Long live the independence of the Taiwanese people” and “Establish a republic of Taiwan.” The CCP sent a representative, Peng
Japan and the Philippines on Monday signed a defense agreement that would facilitate joint drills between them. The pact was made “as both face an increasingly assertive China,” and is in line with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s “effort to forge security alliances to bolster the Philippine military’s limited ability to defend its territorial interests in the South China Sea,” The Associated Press (AP) said. The pact also comes on the heels of comments by former US deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who said at a forum on Tuesday last week that China’s recent aggression toward the Philippines in
The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday announced that the military would hold its annual Han Kuang exercises from July 22 to 26. Military officers said the exercises would feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure. This year’s exercises underline the recent reforms in Taiwan’s military as it transitions from a top-down command structure to one where autonomy is pushed down to the front lines to improve decisionmaking and adaptability. Militaries around the world have been observing and studying Russia’s war in Ukraine. They have seen that the Ukrainian military has been much quicker to adapt to