A blacklist is reportedly circulating within the Chinese music and movie industries that demands that producers and impresarios refrain from including the named individuals in their productions.
According to a report by the Chinese-language Apple Daily, Taiwanese director Wu Nien-jen (吳念真) tops the list, which also includes Taiwanese artists Bobby Chen (陳昇), Dwagie (大支) and Vivian Hsu (徐若瑄), as well as the bands Chthonic (閃靈樂團), Fire EX (滅火器) and Luantan A-hsiang (亂彈阿翔).
The list also includes Hong Kong artists who allegedly support the democracy movement in the territory, such as Denise Ho (何韻詩), Chapman To (杜汶澤) and Anthony Wong (黃耀明), as well as artists in the US, Japan, South Korea and Australia, the Apple Daily reported.
Photo: CNA
However, as the list includes some disbanded groups its veracity has yet to be confirmed.
In response to the report, Wu, who featured in a TV commercial aired by the Democratic Progressive Party ahead of the presidential and legislative elections earlier this year, declined to comment.
“China is such a country... We do only what we feel is right and we are not surprised at being blacklisted by China,” Fire EX’s manager said.
Photo: Hu Shun-hsiang, Taipei Times
Dwagie, who often raps in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), said there is no right or wrong in terms of whether a singer chooses to pursue a career in China.
“A musician is supposed to tell the truth and a rapper must stand true to their moral integrity,” he said.
While it would be nice to be able to collaborate with Chinese musicians, “it really doesn’t matter to me if I can’t go” to China, he added.
Doris Yeh (葉湘怡), a member of Chthonic who advocates Taiwanese independence, said in a text message that the list is not news, as Chthonic has been on a blacklist for more than a decade, adding that the band has not been affected that much.
Most netizens reacted with surprise to see Hsu’s name on the blacklist, as she is not known for having made political comments.
Some said her inclusion might be due to footage of the 2010 Tokyo International Film Festival in which Hsu said: “Japan is like a stepmother to me,” a comment that might have hit a nerve with the Chinese.
Hsu’s manager yesterday said there would be no comment on unsubstantiated rumors and reports, while Hsu issued a statement saying that the veracity of the alleged list has yet to be confirmed and that she has not appeared in China for a long time.
Luantan A-hsiang’s manager said the group would not respond to unsubstantiated rumors.
The Mainland Affairs Council said it does not approve of political intervention in cultural activities.
Taiwanese artists performing in China help promote mutual understanding of the respective cultures on either side of the Taiwan Strait, the council said, adding that it hoped China would continue to guarantee and respect the freedoms of Taiwanese artists.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty. Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month. The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing. The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said. Sun made the remarks when
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
BROAD AGREEMENT: The two are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff to 15% and a commitment for TSMC to build five more fabs, a ‘New York Times’ report said Taiwan and the US have reached a broad consensus on a trade deal, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said yesterday, after a report said that Washington is set to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent. The New York Times on Monday reported that the two nations are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent and commit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to building at least five more facilities in the US. “The agreement, which has been under negotiation for months, is being legally scrubbed and could be announced this month,” the paper said,
MIXED SOURCING: While Taiwan is expanding domestic production, it also sources munitions overseas, as some, like M855 rounds, are cheaper than locally made ones Taiwan and the US plan to jointly produce 155mm artillery shells, as the munition is in high demand due to the Ukraine-Russia war and should be useful in Taiwan’s self-defense, Armaments Bureau Director-General Lieutenant General Lin Wen-hsiang (林文祥) told lawmakers in Taipei yesterday. Lin was responding to questions about Taiwan’s partnership with allies in producing munitions at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. Given the intense demand for 155mm artillery shells in Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion, and in light of Taiwan’s own defensive needs, Taipei and Washington plan to jointly produce 155mm shells, said Lin,
RSS