The Taiwanese subsidiary of China-based online video streaming service iQIYI has been accused of refusing to air a Taiwanese series for containing discussions related to Taiwanese independence and footage of the Sunflower movement.
The movement provides the background for the miniseries Days We Stared at the Sun II (他們在畢業的前一天爆炸2), directed by Cheng Yu-chieh (鄭有傑) and funded by the Taiwanese Public Television Service (PTS).
The series is also broadcast online by Line TV, iQIYI Taiwan and KKTV streaming services.
The Chinese streaming service broadcast the first episode without censorship, but it did not broadcast the second episode, which aired on PTS on Saturday.
Many people said that iQIYI Taiwan’s refusal to air the episode might have something to do with dialogue that could draw Beijing’s ire.
In one scene, the character of Chinese student Huang Chien (黃茜), who covers the Sunflower movement as a student reporter, asks a Taiwanese student if he identifies himself as Chinese. In response, the student says that he is Taiwanese.
In another scene, protesters urge police to protest as well, saying they would be part of the Chinese Public Security Bureau if they did not.
iQIYI Taiwan said in a statement that it made an adjustment in its programming as part of its strategy to differentiate itself from other online platforms.
It said that it has reached an agreement with PTS to replace the series with Lion Dance, another PTS-funded drama.
Lion Dance was adapted from the story of the Hong Sheng Lion Dance Troupe’s founder Chang Yuan-rong (張遠榮). It is PTS’ first series filmed in 4K high-definition.
However, an academic said anything related to the Sunflower movement would be considered a sensitive topic by Beijing.
“The Occupy Central with Love and Peace campaign in 2014 and the advocacy for Hong Kong independence emerged due to or were bolstered by the Sunflower movement,” said Fan Shi-ping (范世平), professor at the Graduate Institute of Political Science at National Taiwan Normal University.
The Sunflower movement refers to student-led protests that began on March 18, 2014, in which students occupied the legislative chamber for almost 23 days to protest a trade in services agreement with China and how it was handled by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS