Taiwan’s entertainment community on Wednesday expressed optimism over new Chinese measures aimed at promoting greater cross-strait cooperation in co-producing television dramas.
However, the most decisive factor in the success of the measures will be whether joint cross-strait productions can attract audiences on both sides, said Angie Chai (柴智屏), who is known as Taiwan’s “Queen of Idol Drama.”
Chai, who has participated in several jointly produced dramas, said China’s new policies could help accelerate cross-strait collaboration, but would only be meaningful if the productions are interesting to viewers.
Chai was responding to an announcement by Fan Liqing (范麗青), the spokeswoman of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office earlier on Wednesday, that Beijing would accelerate the process of reviewing and approving the broadcast of television dramas jointly produced by Taiwan and China.
This will be one of the major measures to be taken to encourage greater cross-strait interaction in the arts, Fan said at a press conference in Beijing.
The second measure will be to schedule regular broadcasts of such productions on China Central Television, the major state broadcaster that reaches more than 1 billion viewers, Fan said.
Currently, Taiwanese dramas are considered foreign productions, which means they cannot be broadcast during primetime on China’s TV stations.
The third step will be to create more opportunities for Taiwanese entertainers to work in the broader Chinese market and to promote Taiwanese dramas among Chinese entertainment companies, Fan said. The regulations allowing Taiwanese entertainers to participate in TV and other productions in China remain in place, she added.
Taiwanese Government Information Office Minister Philip Yang (楊永明) said the office would closely monitor the effects of China’s friendly gesture on Taiwanese entertainers and cross-strait productions.
The office also welcomes China’s decision to speed up the review process because Taiwanese production companies have often complained that it is not transparent or predictable, Yang said.
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