Luxury Italian sports-car brand Maserati has cut sponsorship ties with Taiwan’s top film awards, the latest international brand to bow to pressure from China over political issues.
Maserati said on an official account on a Chinese microblogging site that it had pulled out of sponsoring the Golden Horse Awards.
The company directly linked its decision to Beijing’s stance on Taiwan.
Photo: AP
“Maserati has always respected China’s territorial integrity, its history and culture, while firmly upholding the one China principle,” the firm said.
The initial sponsorship deal was struck by Maserati’s local office in Taiwan and did not represent the brand’s “official stance,” it said.
Wen Tien-hsiang, (聞天祥), executive director of the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival Executive Committee, yesterday confirmed the report, saying that the 56th Golden Horse Film Festival would not be affected and will go ahead as scheduled next month.
“Sponsors have always enjoyed high [media] exposure at the film festival and awards presentation event. We won’t make things difficult for sponsoring businesses,” Wen said.
The Golden Horse awards got into trouble with Beijing after Taiwanese filmmaker Fu Yu (傅榆) called for Taiwanese independence in an acceptance speech at last year’s ceremony.
In August, China’s national film board ordered Chinese directors and stars to boycott the Nov. 23 event and all Chinese films were withdrawn from the nomination list.
International brands have routinely bowed to Beijing’s stance on Taiwan. A growing list of international firms, including luxury brands, airlines and hotels, in the past few years have been pressured to apologize to Beijing or change Taiwan’s classification on their Web sites to “Taiwan, China” or “Chinese Taipei.”
Last week, Dior apologized after a staff presentation featured a map of China without Taiwan on it. The apology sparked criticism from Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), who urged brands to “stand up to the bully.”
On Thursday, US Vice President Mike Pence gave a speech excoriating brands who bow to pressure from Beijing, singling out the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Nike.
The NBA has been engulfed in controversy since Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey this month tweeted “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.”
China, a major market for the NBA, retaliated by ending sponsorships and canceling broadcasts of pre-season games in the country, leading the NBA to drop all media events of the tour.
Nike pulled Houston Rockets merchandise from its stores in China.
Additional reporting by staff writer, with CNA
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS