China’s system of censorship and weak protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) mean many Taiwanese creative and cultural companies face serious difficulties in their forays into the Chinese market.
Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) said that the Ministry of Culture is seeking to establish a “public authority-to-public authority” platform with its Chinese counterpart to discuss and resolve issues related to cultural exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.
If all goes well, Lung said, the ministry will host a cross-strait cultural forum in Taipei in September to discuss these issues.
“We want direct talks between cultural officials from both sides,” Lung said, adding that this could “facilitate solutions to problems involving IPR protection and freedom of expression for our performing artists and cultural workers when they are working in China.”
“We have put forward a list of issues that we hope to negotiate on,” Lung added.
Saying that cross-strait cultural exchanges have faced many hindrances and bottlenecks, Lung added that the two sides need to sit down to talk.
“We must work to resolve the issues one by one to protect the legitimate rights and interests of our artists and creative industry companies working in China,” Lung said.
The ministry cannot sit on its hands and leave Taiwanese cultural workers to deal with the Chinese authorities and competitors unassisted, she added.
The agenda for the September forum would include the creation of an institutionalized mechanism for talks on stumbling blocks to cross-strait cultural exchanges, pushing China to offer greater market access to Taiwanese cultural and creative industry operators and easing censorship.
Lung said her ministry will urge its Chinese counterpart to enhance transparency in publication and film censorship and strengthen IPR protection.
“We will lobby the Chinese culture ministry to set up a ‘fast track’ window for screening the work of our creative and cultural workers in a transparent manner,” Lung said.
The ministry will also push Beijing to exempt Taiwanese non-ideological cultural products from censorship and allow their launch in selected cities and experimental zones without restrictions.
The forum would hopefully pave the way for the culture ministry to dispatch its staff members to work in the Straits Exchange Foundation’s planned branch office in China to offer legal counseling and administrative coordination, Lung said.
Lung said her ministry will give priority to the interests of cultural and creative industries in negotiating with its Chinese counterpart in a pragmatic manner.
“The two sides are talking about establishing an institutionalized dialogue platform to better protect freedom of expression of our artists working in China and their intellectual property rights,” Lung said.
The forum will be a channel for direct “culture ministry-to-culture ministry” dialogue, with officially authorized representatives taking part, Lung said.
“We also look forward to inviting Chinese Minister of Culture Cai Wu (蔡武) to visit Taiwan,” she added.
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the