Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) yesterday accused the Government Information Office (GIO) of lowering the status of a proposed national film culture center in Kaohsiung for political reasons.
Kuan, who previously served as director of the city’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs and then its information office, issued a press release accusing the GIO of diminishing the status of the center by placing it under a similar facility to be built in Sinjhuang, Taipei County, despite the former DPP administration’s decision to give the two centers equal status with the aim of developing Taipei and Kaohsiung’s film industries.
MERGED
Kaohsiung’s information office was merged with the city’s Tourism Bureau last month.
The GIO proposed the plan to build the two centers to the Council of Economic Planning and Development for review on Wednesday.
Under the plan, a main center would be built in Sinjhuang next year, while a branch would be built in Neiweipi (內惟埤) in Kaohsiung in 2014. Construction is scheduled for completion by 2018.
The construction work is expected to cost NT$5.6 billion (US$174.2 million).
Kuan said the GIO’s proposal showed that total floor space of the branch in Kaohsiung would only be equal to one quarter the floor area of the center in Sinjhaung.
The center in Kaohsiung would not have any rooms for book collections, auditoriums, film studios or sets available to crews filming in the city, Kuan said.
EFFORTS
In terms of budget, the construction of the center in Kaohsiung would only account for NT$1.1 billion of the NT$5.6 billion total budget, Kuan said, adding that this showed the Cabinet was completely ignoring the city’s efforts to develop a local film industry.
Kuan described the GIO’s proposal as “a typical example of favoring northern Taiwan over southern Taiwan” and “a national policy based on political differences.”
Although the city’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs director Shih Jhe (史哲) gave the GIO credit for proposing to build one of the centers in Kaohsiung, he said the Kaohsiung center would be “too small.”
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
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
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