The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Australia said in a statement that it was “surprised and regretful” that Fortissimo, the Hong Kong-based distribution company of the movie Miao Miao (渺渺) by Taiwanese director Cheng Hsiao-tse (程孝澤) and with mostly Taiwanese actors had pulled the movie from the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF).
“The withdrawal is the result of the recent boycott by the authorities of the People’s Republic of China … against the Melbourne International Film Festival,” the statement said. “This has nothing to do with Taiwan, which supports the presentation of the film, freedom of expression and human rights.”
The office said that “the arts are a special medium that should be above politics and political dictates.”
“TECO firmly believes that it is wrong to boycott this international cultural event because of political differences,” it said. “TECO feels very disappointed that the Australian public will be unable to see Miao Miao.”
Meanwhile, TECO confirmed that two Taiwanese short films, Joyce Agape (喜樂愛加倍) and The Pursuit of What Was, would still participate at the film festival.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said the film industry — as well as other industries — could learn a lesson from the incident.
“What we can learn from this is that being ruled by an authoritarian regime, China is an unreliable source of funding. Whether it’s the film industry or any other industry, we should never depend on it for funding,” Chen said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said it would be difficult for the film industry to avoid working with production companies from any specific country because cultural industries transcend boundaries and cross-strait cooperation is in vogue.
“If it’s a production by a Hong Kong-based company, it’s up to the company to decide what to do and it should try to rid itself of political intervention,” Lu said. “After all, it’s the Hong Kong-based company that has to shoulder the losses from withdrawing from the film festival.”
The reactions came after the organizers of the film festival announced on Friday that they were left without any Chinese-language movies after a boycott by directors in a row over exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer.
Mounting tensions about the visit of Kadeer, of the World Uighur Congress, have now led seven directors to pull their work from the festival in a dispute that has also seen Hong Kong withdraw its sponsorship.
Six films were originally scheduled — all sold out — but now the director of a seventh title that was to have plugged a hole created by the boycott has also pulled his work.
“[The directors] are against Rebiya Kadeer coming out and the film [about her life] screening at the festival,” festival spokeswoman Louise Heseltine said.
Heseltine said the withdrawal of the films, the most recent of which occurred on Tuesday, was a “major inconvenience” for the festival, forcing ticket refunds and massive rescheduling.
She said the organizers had never considered bowing to pressure from Beijing to pull Ten Conditions of Love, a documentary about Kadeer’s life, from the festival program.
Nor had they entertained not hosting her as a guest on Wednesday at a screening of the film, Heseltine said.
“There’s no way the festival would not screen the film,” she said, adding: “She’s definitely coming out.”
The Hong Kong and Taipei trade offices have “been partnering with the festival for a number of years and I believe that they’re disappointed, but it’s just circumstances that are really beyond our control and beyond their control as well,” she said.
China has labeled the US-based Muslim minority leader a “criminal” and accuses her of inciting recent violence in the restive Xinjiang region, which left at least 197 dead.
Canberra has rebuffed Chinese objections to the visit by Kadeer, saying she is not a “terrorist” and there is no reason to exclude her.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Kadeer had been given a visa for this week’s visit.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from