Kaohsiung City opened its annual film festival yesterday, featuring a biopic about exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer despite protests from the tourism industry and China.
Four screenings of The 10 Conditions of Love about Kadeer, blamed by Beijing for ethnic unrest in her home region of Xinjiang in July, are scheduled during the two-week festival, organizers said.
The film was initially removed from the festival line-up after the local tourism sector complained about a steep drop-off in business amid reports of a boycott by Chinese tourists. But city officials decided to put the film back in the schedule just days after the central government barred a proposed visit by Kadeer.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
A Chinese official in charge of Taiwan affairs confirmed this week that Chinese tour groups were avoiding Kaohsiung.
“Some forces in Kaohsiung joined hands with Tibetan and Xinjiang independence forces to create trouble and hurt China’s core interests,” said Fan Liqing (范麗青), spokeswoman of the Taiwan Affairs Office. “This hurt the Chinese people’s feelings and it’s only natural for them to show their dissatisfaction over this.”
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) told the legislature yesterday that the Chinese authorities should reconsider the tourist boycott, calling Fan’s remarks “inappropriate.”
Wu made the remarks when fielding questions from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) during a question-and-answer session.
Saying that China should respect the choices made by Taiwan to safeguard human rights, freedom and democracy, Wu said China should also respect the rights of its people to travel where they wanted.
Intervention in the travel agency itineraries shows disregard for the tourists’ right to make their own travel plans, he said.
“It’s inappropriate for the government to interfere in tour group itineraries” he said, adding that if Chinese tourists were allowed to choose freely, Kaohsiung would be one of their choices.
Marketing was the key to attracting more tourists, Wu said, hinting that Kaohsiung should be more aggressive in promoting its tourist attractions in China.
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