Golden Horse undiminished
The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival officially opened on Nov. 9. Before that, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), unveiled his five major cultural policies, pledging to “polish the Golden Horse” again, while simultaneously blaming the government for the China’sagainst the Golden Horse Awards, because of its cross-strait policy, as the scope of the awards has narrowed in recent years.
The reason for China’s boycott of the Golden Horse Awards is that during the awards ceremony in November 2018, director Fu Yue (傅榆), who won Best Documentary that year, said in her acceptance speech onstage: “I hope that our country can be regarded as a truly independent entity, and this is my greatest wish as a Taiwanese.”
In Taiwan, the winners of the Golden Horse Awards enjoy freedom of speech and are allowed to say whatever they want, but unexpectedly, this triggered the sensitive nerves of the narrow-minded Chinese authorities, and some Chinese filmmakers simply walked out of the ceremony. China has not participated in the Taiwanese event since then.
As for this year’s Golden Horse Awards, the five nominees for Best Narrative Feature include: Time Still Turns the Pages (年少日記) from Hong Kong, Snow in Midsummer (五月雪) from Malaysia, and Stonewalling (石門) from Japan. Meanwhile, members of the jury include Singaporean director Anthony Chen (陳哲藝), Hong Kong songwriter Chris Shum (岑偉宗) and many more filmmakers.
With such a lineup, international participation is particularly broad. Has the scope really narrowed that much since 2018? Despite the absence of Chinese filmmakers, the Golden Horse Awards are still glittering as they enter their 60th year.
Wang Shan
Taipei
Lessons from 3D knives
As videos about 3D-printed “radish knives” (蘿蔔刀) on TikTok go viral in China, the popularity of such toy knives has spread to elementary schools in Taiwan.
Surprisingly, an Internet celebrity joked in one of the videos: “If you see someone you do not like, just stab him.” This Internet celebrity was completely irresponsible and failed to take into account the consequences of his actions. That was unbelievable.
There are two sides to every story. As a tool, a toy knife is essentially a piece of stationery, if used properly. If not, it might become a weapon. We can allow students to use a toy knife, but we must explain the rules of use correctly, so they know how to use it with caution. It not only cultivates a sense of responsibility, but is also a good teaching moment.
From a psychological point of view, the more forbidden something is, the more desirable it becomes. This is what we might call the “forbidden fruit effect.”
If students try to use the toy knives in secret, if they were to hurt each other accidentally, they will not dare to tell the adults and would delay getting treatment, which would only make the situation worse.
Instead of banning the toy knives, students should be actively guided to think and discuss why they want to use the knives and what the alternatives are. Through a series of reflective questions, children can have a sense of awareness and use the toy knives responsibly.
Lin Yen-yu
Kaohsiung
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017
RSS