The organizing committee of the 23rd Tokyo International Film Festival on Monday offered an apology to the Taiwanese delegation, which was unable to walk the “green carpet” on the opening day due to a protest raised by the Chinese delegation over Taiwan’s name.
Festival office chief Nobushige Toshima told the Central News Agency (CNA) in a telephone interview that the Taiwanese delegation was among the distinguished guests invited by the festival organization while the Chinese were not.
On the opening night of the festival on Saturday, as throngs of international stars and filmmakers were gracing the green carpet, the Taiwanese and Chinese groups were feuding over the name that would be used to introduce Taiwan’s delegation.
The Chinese side, headed by director Jiang Ping (江平), demanded that Taiwan’s group use the word “China” as part of its name, a request deemed unreasonable and rejected by the Taiwanese delegation led by Chen Chih-kuan (陳志寬), director of the Department of Motion Pictures Affairs under the Government Information Office.
The argument lasted over 90 minutes, causing both delegations to miss their grand entrances.
Speaking to the CNA, Toshima said the committee was shocked and dumbfounded when it received the news regarding the feud. However, when asked why the organizers did not step in to mediate the dispute, he admitted the committee did not take good care of the Taiwanese delegation.
Taiwan has been a regular participant at the festival and has always attended under the name “Taiwan,” Toshima said, and he promised that the committee would not deviate from that as long as Taiwan continues to be part of the event in the future.
During the argument, Jiang threatened the committee with an ultimatum that if the name issue were not resolved in China’s favor within 10 minutes, the Chinese delegation would withdraw from the festival and contemplate never attending again.
According to an individual familiar with the film festival, Jiang’s behavior left the committee feeling “used” as his own self-promoting tool. Although the Chinese delegation was at fault, the committee’s hands were tied, the source said.
He added that Jiang participated in the film festival last year but did not make the same request. If Jiang had made the demand one week ahead of the event, the organizer would have had time to come up with a solution, but what Jiang did caught everyone by surprise.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS