Chinese Minister of Culture Cai Wu (蔡武) yesterday proposed institutionalizing cultural exchanges between Taiwan and China, suggesting that both sides hold visits by high-level cultural officials and sign an agreement on the matter.
Cai, who arrived in Taiwan on Thursday for a seven-day visit, told a Cross-Strait Cultural Forum in Taipei that it took more than the economy to sustain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
“The economy is no doubt important, but it is no substitute for cultural exchanges and the sharing of ideas,” he said. “After the two sides signed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement [ECFA], it is time to begin talks on cultural exchanges to create a situation that is mutually beneficial and will make both sides understand each other better.”
PHOTO: AFP
“[A cross-strait cultural agreement would] help bring together both sides’ resources, funding and creativity,” he said.
Cai said he hoped China would push for cultural change, meet the needs of the market, help upgrade his country’s cultural tastes and resist culture that was mediocre, hollow and vulgar.
Speaking for Taiwan, Council for Cultural Affairs Minister Emile Sheng (盛治仁) said culture was not a zero-sum game, but an exchange of values and ideas.
Saying that both sides came from the same roots, Sheng urged the two sides to tolerate and respect each other, adding that the biggest obstacle to cultural exchanges was forcing individual values on other people.
“Only by conducting exchanges with an open heart can we renew the great Chinese civilization,” he said. “Politics, no matter how strong they are, will eventually disappear, but culture will be handed down from generation to generation. The purpose of cultural exchanges across the Taiwan Strait is to let the people on both sides of the strait better understand and respect each other.”
“Both sides of the Taiwan Strait should try to be in each other’s shoes, understand each other’s differences and respect each other,” he said.
Sheng said Taiwan did not rule out establishing an official cultural affairs office in China and allowing a Chinese counterpart to be set up in Taiwan, adding that both sides could do so in a “systematic and transparent” manner.
“We hope both sides can push relevant exchanges step-by-step under the precondition of reciprocity and mutual respect and create a win-win situation for people across the Taiwan Strait,” Sheng said.
This was the first time Sheng has confirmed that the Council for Cultural Affairs was seeking to establish an official office in China.
When the issue was brought into the spotlight last November, Sheng said the council would like to establish a semi-official office or private organization.
Fang Jy-shiuh (方芷絮), director of the council’s First Department, proposed that China gradually relax its regulations on market access to its cultural and creative industries so Taiwanese firms could cooperate with their Chinese counterparts.
This could be achieved by relaxing regulations on investment projects, capital ratio, capital threshold limits, import quotas, ISBN issues, version numbers and issuers, as well as other issues, Fang said.
Cross-strait city exchanges for cultural and creative industries, in which Taiwanese firms and their products in pilot projects in China could enjoy preferential treatment and policies, were other measures that were being considered, Fang said.
Tuo Zuhai (庹祖海), deputy director-general of the Department of Cultural Markets of China’s Ministry of Culture, said it would require both sides to establish an institutionalized communication platform to resolve the problem.
Former premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄), who is now National Cultural Association president, said a cross-strait online Chinese dictionary would be ready to launch by the end of next year.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG AND CNA
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft