An agent for veteran actor Chien Chang (
"After our inquiry with jury members through various channels, [we concluded that] the reason why actor Chang Chen-kuang (張晨光) won the lead actor award was because of his recent improvement in speaking Taiwanese to perform in the Taiwanese-language TV drama," said Lin Chih-yuan (林志遠), Chien's agent from IDSON Communication Corp.
PHOTO: CHEN YI-CHUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
"Since Chien and Chang are both Mainlanders, apparently the jury took for granted that fact the Chien has been able to speak Taiwanese fluently, while they valued highly Chang's newly improved ability in speaking the language," Lin added.
Lin raised several points questioning the jury's fairness in granting Chang this year's best lead actor award.
"First, Chang was not even nominated in the first round, but because one of the jurors -- who was not at all familiar with soap operas -- liked his acting, he was then nominated in the second round," Lin said.
Second, Taiwanese-language abilities should not be a factor when choosing between Chien and Chang, Lin said.
"Third, juror qualifications were questionable, and their backgrounds varied greatly, including some people who have detached themselves from the entertainment business for a long time," Lin said.
A jury chief recognized and praised Chang's remarkable improvement both in acting and language skills in Friday's ceremony.
Chi Lung-jen (
"Chang was not able to speak Taiwanese in the past, and now he acts with ease in Taiwanese, offering an excellent performance," Chi was quoted by a local newspaper as saying.
But it was so hard for Chien to swallow his defeat that he wept after the announcement of the winner of the lead actor award.
"I have been able to speak good Taiwanese from the very beginning, while Chang managed to pick up the language only recently," Chien said.
Chien's acting in Da-Ai Television's production of the drama Quartet has won public acclaim and he was regarded as the most likely winner of this year's best lead actor award. The jury's pick surprised many people, and Chien was defeated by Chang by a mere two votes. Lin Chia-li (林嘉俐), who also starred in Quartet, received this year's best supporting actress award.
Chang won the title for his role in the TV drama dubbed High Noon produced by Formosa TV.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard