Union could expel VCD actor

Actor Lin Fu-chin (林富進), better known as Andy (安迪), faces expulsion from the Entertainment Union (演藝工會) because of his speech at President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) re-election campaign rally on Saturday.

But Lin decided to resign from the union before its board could take a decision to officially revoke his membership.

"We are holding a commentary meeting tomorrow afternoon to discuss the proposal to revoke Lin's membership," said Kao Chen-peng (高振鵬), a spokesperson of the Entertainment Union, who is also an experienced actor.

In response to the possible revocation of his union membership, Lin wrote a letter to Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Lo Chih-ming (羅志明), saying: "I have decided to quit on my own, in order to protest against the union's disrespect for human rights and freedom of speech."

Lin had condemned People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) at the campaign rally for having called him "despicable."

"I only participated in one day of shooting for Special Report, and yet I have to put up with Soong's name-calling over and over again. I want to say `thank you' to Soong and call him `vile,'" Lin said at the rally.

In his letter to Lo, Lin said: "If I have said anything inappropriate at the rally, please produce the evidence."

"Many famous artists have shown their support for [Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman] Lien Chan (連戰) and James Soong at their campaign rallies -- why didn't any of these individuals get the boot from the union?" he said in the letter.

Lin also questions the politics of the Entertainment Union in the letter. "Many artists who showed up at Lien and Soong's campaign rallies verbally assailed President Chen in public, or even kneeled to seek voters' support, but they were never kicked out of the union. Does that infer that the union is pan-blue?" he wrote.

When asked if Lin could annul his membership on his own, Kao stated that it would be impossible.

"Lin cannot revoke his membership on his own, he has to receive a notification letter in black and white first," Kao said, adding that the union's directors have to follow several procedures before a penalty can be imposed on Lin.

"The penalty can be a simple verbal warning, a revocation of his membership or something else. We don't know for sure at this point," Kao said.

Lo stood up for Lin at a press conference yesterday. "When Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) brought a slander lawsuit against Lin and other actors for their roles in Special Report, it was a clear case of a political crackdown on the artists' right to perform. However, Yang Kuang-you (楊光友), the head of the union, where were you then?" Lo said.

According to a report in the Chinese-language media on Sunday, Yang was enraged by Lin's criticism, which he considered to be a personal verbal attack.

Yang said that an actor should perform with conscience and self-control.

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