The Taipei Chinese Orchestra (TCO) came under fire from Taipei City councilors yesterday after the lyrics of a song from its latest performance were found to praise the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The piece is the theme song of a Chinese musical, Red Guards of Lake Hong, and is one of six songs set to be performed by the orchestra at Taipei’s Zhongshan Hall in January.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilors Lee Chien-chan (李建昌) and Hsu Shu-hua (?? condemned the orchestra and the Taipei City Government for fawning over China by including the music — whose lyrics praise the CCP and express Chinese fishermen’s gratitude to the party — in its program
“Although the lyrics will not be shown in the performance, selecting this piece of music remains a provocative move for many Taiwanese people,” Lee told a press conference at the Taipei City Council.
Hsu said she respected the orchestra’s freedom to select its repertoire, but a song written to promote communism and unification was not a proper choice to be performed in Taiwan.
“We think it’s quite inappropriate for the orchestra to play this music at this time as it will provoke Taiwanese people’s complex feelings,” she said.
TCO leader Zhong Yao-kuan (鍾耀光) said the song was selected solely based on the beauty of its melody, but the orchestra was willing to remove it from its program if the audience felt uncomfortable about the music.
Taipei City Cultural Department Commissioner Lee Yong-ping (李永萍) said there was no political purpose behind the selection of the song, and urged the DPP councilors not to politicize the issue.
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