China News: Taiwan Culture | China Digital Times (CDT)

China news tagged with: Taiwan culture (9)

RSS feed for this topic

Related tags

Taiwan Feels Heat Over Uighur Film

In the latest example of the Chinese government trying (and sometimes succeeding) in imposing censorship over cultural events overseas, the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung has rescheduled a showing of The Ten Conditions of Love, a documentary about Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer. The film became a hot ticket in Australia after Chinese officials asked the Melbourne Film Festival not to show it. The Wall Street Journal reports on this latest controversy over the film in Taiwan:

The decision is unlikely to end controversy over a case in which China appears to have used its growing economic clout in Taiwan to influence the island’s free-wheeling cultural scene. China “resolutely opposes” the showing of the film, the state-run Xinhua news agency said Sunday. It quoted a spokesman from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office as urging “concerned parties” in Kaohsiung “not to stir up troubles on cross-straits relations.”

Kaohsiung’s tourism industry also isn’t happy that the film will be screened. “It is regretful that the city government is still showing the movie,” said Tseng Fu-hsing, chairman of the Kaohsiung Tourism Association, who had urged the city not to include the film on the festival program.

He said the industry has come to rely on Chinese tourists during the economic downturn and that as many as 20%, or several thousand, reservations from the mainland may be affected. “We now hope the Chinese government doesn’t do anything to hurt us. We did our best. We really have nothing to do with the event,” Mr. Tseng said.

Read also about China’s efforts to ban dissident writers from the Frankfurt Book Fair, via CDT.
» Read more
- September 21, 2009 9:33 PM
Taiwan Cartoonist Captivates China: Chu Teh-yung

Chu Teh-yung. Photo courtesy of the AP

Chu Teh-yung or Ronald Chu, a cartoonist from Taiwan, is getting recognition in mainland China with a new museum built in his honor, despite the tensions between Taiwan and China. From The Yomiuri Shimbun:

Late last month, the city of Hangzhou in eastern China signed a contract with Chu Teh-yung to build a museum celebrating his accomplishments. The ultramodern structure, scheduled to open in 2010, is to be the centerpiece of a sprawling animation complex that will also include artist workshops and luxury hotels.

His success reflects two shifts: a narrowing social gap between the mainland and wealthier Taiwan, as Chinese move up the economic ladder, and Beijing’s gradual easing of limits on cultural expression.

The 49-year-old cartoonist also steers clear of political themes. That’s somewhat unusual in Taiwan, which is known for its hotly contested, even divisive politics. But it’s a winning approach in mainland China, where the one-party, authoritarian government brooks little dissent.

» Read more
- May 25, 2009 11:00 PM
Young Taiwanese Fear Authoritarian Revival

Current action taken by Taiwan’s president Ma Ying-jiu to establish closer ties with China as well as increased restrictions on public demonstration are leaving young Taiwanese worried about a possible retreat in the development of Taiwan’s democracy. The Taipei Times reports:

Because of the arbitrariness of police action and how unclear the rules about what constitutes a violation of the law have become, “we don’t know what to expect. We don’t know if we’ll be arrested.”

For many of them, such police action is new, as they were too young to remember when the nation was still under martial law.

“Look at the [anti Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁)] demonstrations by the ‘Red Shirts’ last year,” one said. “They were allowed to demonstrate for months, to camp at [Taipei Main Station] and the police didn’t bother them.”

…

“We’re pretty pessimistic,” another said. “Maybe some of us want to be arrested. It feels like it’s martial law all over again. Perhaps what the Ma government is doing by cracking down on dissent and freedom of speech is preparing the terrain” for a Taiwan that is part of China.

In addition, Ma has also been accused of playing media favorites by only allowing certain media outlets to attend certain events. A group of pro-independence activists even inaugurated the Taiwanese Youth Anti-Communist National Salvations Corps who are worried about the direction Taiwan’s democracy is headed.
» Read more
- November 2, 2008 11:17 PM
Mao Comes To Taiwan

Shu-Ching Jean Chen reports in Forbes, from Shanghai:

Mao Zedong may have failed to conquer Taiwan, but this Monday, he will achieve a posthumous landing on the island, on the face of Chinese bank notes.

As part of comprehensive financial liberalization measures announced Thursday, Taiwan will allow the conversion of the yuan into Taiwanese dollars in banks across the island that Beijing still considers a renegade province.

It will be the first time that Chinese bank notes, many of which display Mao’s visage, will be officially available in Taiwan.
» Read more
- June 28, 2008 5:05 PM
Edward Yang, 1947 – 2007

In 2000, Taiwanese engineer-turned-director

Edward Yang won the Cannes best director award in 2000 for “Yi Yi.” The press reported his death today. Yang was 59.

From Min Lee of AP, via The International Herald Tribune:

Yang, an American citizen, passed away at his home in Beverly Hills on Friday, film consultant Norman Wang told The Associated Press. Wang said Yang’s family asked him to release the information to the press.

Yang had been battling colon cancer for seven years but kept his illness private, Wang said. [Full Text]
» Read more
- July 1, 2007 9:57 PM
Taiwan Mulls Abandoning Official Language – Annie Huang

From Seattlepi.com:

Taiwan is considering abandoning its long-standing policy of recognizing Mandarin Chinese as the island’s only official language, the premier said Tuesday, in a move that would likely anger rival China.

Su Tseng-chang said the Cabinet is examining a draft for a “National Language Development Act” to promote the use of local dialects and prohibit linguistic discrimination. “Taiwan is a plural society, and all languages should have equal standing and be respected and supported,” Su said, indicating an intention to confer equal status on the Taiwanese dialect of Chinese, as well as Hakka, another Chinese dialect.

Such a move would likely be renounced by Beijing, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory and opposes any efforts by the island’s leadership to loosen cultural and other bonds. [Full Text]
» Read more
- March 20, 2007 1:16 AM
Rare Glimpses of China’s Long-Hidden Treasures – Keith Bradsher

From The New York Times:

After four years of renovations that closed two-thirds of the building, the museum housing the world’s most famous collection of Chinese art is reopening this winter and holding a three-month exhibition of its rarest works.

The National Palace Museum, home to the best of the 1,000-year-old art collection of China’s emperors, is often compared to leading Western institutions like the Louvre, the Prado and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. But while this museum’s holdings are magnificent, the institution has been known for being a highly politicized place where priceless porcelain sat in poorly lit display cases and where invaluable paintings were kept in a damp manmade cave for fear of Communist attack from mainland China.

That has now changed. Heroic statues of Chiang Kai-shek, Taiwan’s former leader, and of Sun Yat-sen, the founder of modern China, have been banished. New lighting, air-conditioning, climate-controlled storage vaults and other features rival the newest museums in the West. Even the wall labels attached to the artwork are now written in clear and specific Chinese, English and Japanese.[Full Text]
» Read more
- December 28, 2006 11:19 AM
Wandering spirit finds peace – Mary O’Brien

From The Age:

Cloud Gate Dance Theatre(‰∫ëÈó®ËàûÈõÜ), the legendary Taiwanese company, returns to Melbourne this week with its much feted Songs of the Wanderers, the work that is closest to the heart of its founder, Lin Hwai-min.

“It’s a very special work,” Lin says. “It marks the turning point of my life and creative career.”

Speaking from Taipei, the founder, artistic director and choreographer of Cloud Gate says he never tires of this work. His only regret is that he’s not returning to Melbourne with his company, which won several awards at the 2003 Melbourne Arts Festival. [Full Text]
» Read more
- July 23, 2006 7:54 PM
Ghosts have a hold on Taiwan culture – Mark Magnier

From Los Angeles Times via The Seattle Times:

In Taiwan, ghosts are rarely a laughing matter. On TV, in conversation, at temples and in the recesses of the unconscious, they maintain a grip on island society. Taiwanese are ghost-crazy, or rather, crazy to avoid them. A recent survey of Taipei college students found 87 percent were believers; some say that could be on the low side.

“I’d say the other 13 percent would probably hedge their bets if you questioned them closer,” says Marc Moskowitz, an anthropologist at Lake Forest College in Illinois who has studied Taiwan’s spirit beliefs. “Many Taiwanese feel it’s best not to anger the ghosts, just in case they do exist.” [Full Text]
» Read more
- July 23, 2006 7:27 PM