Two weeks before the Measure Governing the Rating Systems of Publications and Pre-recorded Video Programs goes into effect, censorship opponents yesterday reiterated their opposition to the regulation. They called on the Government Information Office (GIO) to establish a review system and communicate with publishers and civil groups if it insists on enforcing the regulation.
"The GIO promised to hold public hearings to discuss the issue with publishers and other concerned people," said Wu Min-hsuan (
"However, it has never discussed the issue with us," Wu said.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
In order to find better solutions to the issue before the regulation takes effect, the coalition and legislators held a public hearing on May 17, inviting publishers and human-rights groups to share their opinions.
The hearing concluded that the GIO should establish a review committee made up of publishers, retailers, writers and childrens-rights advocates, to replace the present Publication Appraisal Foundation. The hearing also said that the GIO should conduct a thorough review of the current rating system -- and hold off implementing the new regulation until the review reaches a conclusion.
Chu Wei-cheng (
"The right to lead a review system or carry out regulations should be granted to civil groups. Besides, the rating regulation, which violates the public's freedom to read, is absurd and should be abolished, Chu said.
Huang Song-chu (
"The GIO and some conservative groups, including children's welfare organizations, have decided what we should read," Huang said.
"As the group who will be most affected by the rating system, however, no one has ever asked our opinions, which is a violation of our rights," he said.
According to the rating regulation, which was suppose to take effect on Dec. 1 last year, restricted publications must be sealed and carry a label on the cover reading "R rated: Not available for those 18 or under." Violators face fines of between NT$100,000 (US$3,184) and NT$500,000. Serious offenders can be forced to suspend publication for up to a year.
After a deluge of criticism from the publishing industry, which described the rating system as "harsh" and "vaguely defined," the GIO suspended the issuance of fines for violations until July 1. It also reversed its earlier decision that "R"-rated books would be banned from exhibition. However, labels and seals are still required for those books.
Then-GIO director-general Lin Chia-lung (
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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