I saw the headlines, then read the articles: "No funds for participation in the International PEN Annual World Congress. Members of Taipei Chinese Center, Interna-tional PEN were upset when they did not receive Council for Cultural Affairs subsidies."
The Taipei Chinese Center, International PEN (an international association of writers) last year received no funding for plane tickets and other travel expenses for two members to participate in International PEN's 68th World Congress in Macedonia. There are worries that the situation will be repeated this year. There is also the concern that China, which is already a member, might try to block Taiwan's membership.
This kind of news indeed highlights a cultural imbalance in a Taiwan that extols the achievements of its economic development, but also shows the potential problems of excessive reliance of the literary and art worlds on government subsidies. Not only members of the Taipei Chinese Center, International PEN, but anyone concerned about international literary exchanges, will be upset that the center might not be able to fight for Taiwan's membership because two authors can't even get funding for their travel expenses.
The International PEN Charter affirms that literature, national though it is in origin, knows no frontiers and should remain a common currency, irrespective of political or international change.
Membership in PEN is open to all poets, playwrights, critics, authors, editors and translators who subscribe to these aims, irrespective of nationality, language, race, color or religion.
The PEN Chinese Center organization was originally established in China, but was expelled following the communist revolution and re-established in Taiwan. During the martial law era, however, certain members of the Taipei Chinese Center, International PEN acted against the spirit of the International PEN charter, condemning, for example, "worker, farmer and soldier literature" during the local literature debates of the 1970s. The Taipei Chinese Center also opposed membership for their rival "PEN Taiwan" (台灣筆會) in PEN International.
Over the last few years, however, Taipei Chinese Center's English quarterly The Chinese PEN has introduced works by members of "PEN Taiwan," which shows a more open-minded approach. But there are two PEN organizations in Taiwan, the "Taipei Chinese Center, International PEN" and the "PEN Taiwan." The former worries about Chinese action concerning its membership, while the latter has yet to enjoy membership. This reflects the problems facing Taiwan when it comes to national or political passions and national conditions.
Let's look at the issue from the perspective of the charter of International PEN. The establishment of a PEN chapter for exiled Chinese authors is worthy of reflection by PEN Taiwan. China is a vast territory and there are PEN centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Chongqing. In Hong Kong, there is both an English and a Chinese PEN center. Chinese authors who have left China for other countries for political or other reasons have still obtained PEN membership even though they live in more than one country. This may be due to their ability to operate on a truly international basis, but it is also a statement by International PEN against oppression.
Even though Taipei's PEN branch already publishes an English-language quarterly, the international prestige of authors in Taiwan still leaves much to be desired. While there are works translated into foreign languages with the support of government cultural agencies, the international visibility of Taiwanese authors is still poor, and international circulation is small. Maybe this is an issue that should be given deeper consideration.
Lee Ming-yung is a poet and president of the Taiwan Peace Foundation (TPF).
Translated by Perry Svensson
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