John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker who doubles as the party’s vice chairman, yesterday called on the Kaohsiung City Government to rethink its plan to screen the documentary, saying that it would negatively impact cross-strait relations.
“The Dalai Lama’s visit impacted cross-strait relations, but relations can get back on track depending on efforts by both sides to clear away any dark clouds,” Chiang said.
Chiang said that screening the film was a sensitive issue for Beijing and needed to be handled carefully.
Meanwhile, the KMT legislative caucus held a press conference at which they urged Chen and Lee to finalize whether the festival would air the film or not as soon as possible.
“We hope the DPP bears in mind that this concerns not only about politics, but economic development and people’s livelihoods. Deciding to screen the film at the festival will put hoteliers in an even worse predicament,” KMT Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) said.
That the hotel occupancy rate in the city has hit a record low was worrying as Kaohsiung was expected to attract more tourists after it staged a successful World Games, KMT Legislator Justin Chou (周守訓) said.
“It’s likely that Chinese tourists will boycott trips to Kaohsiung because of the film festival,” he said.
RSS