The best place for a writer is to remain on the fringes of society so as to keep a clear head, maintain alertness and avoid becoming another victim of the political propaganda apparatus, exiled Chinese novelist and Nobel laureate Gao Xingjian (高行健) said yesterday at a talk at National Taiwan Normal University.
Dean of the university’s graduate institute of performing arts Jerry Hsia (夏學理) asked Gao how literature and politics could maintain an “aesthetic distance,” so that writers who entered politics could avoid being suborned by politics.
Hsia also asked Gao what suggestions he would offer to Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台), a renowned writer, if Lung was sitting in the audience.
Photo: Pan Shao-tang, Taipei Times
While side-stepping the question of offering advice to Lung, Gao said politics is in essence a squabble for power, adding that politics drove people mad and made them lose the basic qualities that made them human.
Any political ideology serves politics, Gao said, adding that while it is impossible for writers to separate themselves entirely from society, they should avoid meddling in politics.
“Literature and arts in my mind should be a wakeful observation of the world and present the doubts one has about the world, not to negate it; literary authors should also not devote themselves to politics. Being like [Chinese novelist] Lu Xun (魯迅) and immersing oneself into the ardor of political service is not to be encouraged,” Gao said.
Gao said writers entering political life would inevitably be influenced by it, citing the example of Chinese writer Xia Yan (夏衍), who was the Chinese deputy minister of culture from 1955 until he was toppled in the Cultural Revolution.
Xia was a good writer and playwright, but he was unable to prevent the Nanjing City Government from burning 3,000 Chinese novels when he was in office, Gao said, adding that such was an example of the bitter fruit that a cultured individual is forced to consume while in government office.
However, Gao did not entirely deny the value of having a person from literary circles in government. He cited the example of Andre Malraux, who made a great contribution to culture and the humanities when he was French minister of cultural affairs.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
RSS