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.
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then