Some scholars and human rights activists said yesterday that Taiwan is overreacting to the Japanese comic On Taiwan. They made the remarks in the wake of an order issued yesterday by the Ministry of Interior to bar the book's author from entering the country.
"We could refute his opinions, or we could choose not to read his book, but that's only as far as we should go. Anything else is not necessary or appropriate," said Bo Yang (
The book, by Yoshinori Kobayashi (小林善紀), a right-wing activist in Japan, triggered a storm of criticism in Taiwan when its Chinese edition became available in bookshops here in early February.
Kobayashi's depiction of Tai-wanese comfort women -- supported by quotations from two Taiwanese business leaders -- as voluntary sex workers caused such angry reactions that calls were made for either a ban on the book or on the entry of the Japanese author into Taiwan.
Bo Yang said yesterday that though many in Taiwan have felt angry with the presentation of the comfort women issue in Kobayashi's book, that does not justify a ban against the book or the author.
Bo Yang, who has had his own books banned, also blasted the acts of some people for burning the book, saying such conduct does not make any sense and simply reminds Taiwanese people of the White Terror era, when freedom of expression was strictly suppressed.
He also noted that it is Kobayashi's personal behavior that is seen as inappropriate and that there is no reason to extend the furious attacks to the Japanese government or other Japanese people.
Bo Yang's views were echoed by scholars yesterday, who said that to impose a ban on the book or on the author was to overreact.
"It has gone too far when people burn the book in public or ask for it to be banned. When people react like that, it means they are looking at history with an extremist attitude, just as Kobayashi does. It's just not appropriate," said Feng Chien-san (
Huang Mab (
"We can disagree, but it's not right to try to suppress someone's freedom of expression just because we don't agree with him," Huang said. "I think preservation of freedom of expression is best demonstrated when it comes to the most controversial views or opinions."
Huang said most Taiwanese would remember vividly the chilling experiences of censorship lifted not long ago. "It's after so many years of struggle that we finally got here. How could we give up the ideal simply because of a comic?" Huang said.
Not only scholars but also the Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation (婦女救援基金會), which has launched a campaign against what it calls the twisted accounts in Kobayashi's book, agreed that freedom of expression should not be suppressed in this case.
"It's more appropriate to let the readers decide [whether to buy the book or not]. We strongly disagree with Kobayashi's point of view concerning the comfort women, but we don't think it is right to suppress freedom of expression in any unreasonable way,"said Ko Su-lun (葛書倫), executive-general of the foundation.
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