Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) yesterday expressed regret over the withdrawal of several Chinese TV stations from this year’s Taipei TV Festival, allegedly due to China’s discontent with the participation of a TV station associated with the Falun Gong spiritual movement.
“The political divergence [between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait] has made the exchange of broadcast content the most profound [cross-strait] cultural exchange we can have. The TV festival is a channel through which we can climb over that political fence,” Lung said.
Lung said the Chinese TV stations had “lost the forest for the trees” by withdrawing from the festival for political reasons, adding that while she understood there might be “certain rules” that those stations had to comply with, she hoped they could join next year’s festival.
Photo: CNA
Now in its 10th year, the festival — which opened yesterday and runs through tomorrow — has attracted 95 broadcasting and production companies from more than 14 countries, including the UK, the US, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Turkey, Greece, Vietnam and the Netherlands, to showcase their programs.
In previous years, about one-third of the exhibitors came from China, including some affiliated with the Chinese government. However, a Chinese delegation comprising of just over 100 representatives is attending this year.
According to a source familiar with the matter who spoke to the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), the Chinese stations’ withdrawal was in response to an order from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office and State Administration of Radio Film and Television to avoid direct contact with representatives of New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV).
NTDTV was founded in the US in 2001 by several Chinese expatriates and Falun Gong practitioners with the aim of providing uncensored information to Chinese citizens and others and facilitating press freedom in China.
NTDTV had participated in the festival for the past few years, the source said, adding that the Chinese probably decided to boycott this year’s festival because of the change of venue.
“The festival had traditionally been held in the Grand Hotel, where participants were allowed to set up their exhibition stands in their respective rooms. However, this year the event has been moved to the Taipei World Trade Center Hall 3, an open-style exhibition hall,” the source said.
Lin Tung-cheng (林銅城), chief executive officer of festival organizer Hochan Entertainment Co confirmed the reports yesterday, but added that the boycott was motivated solely by NTDTV’s participation, not the change of venue.
NTDTV spokesperson Chu Wan-chi (朱婉琪) said the station was established to inform ethnic Chinese of the truth about China and that it neither encouraged nor opposed Chinese media joining the festival.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
‘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 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS