The replacement of Taiwanese actor Leon Dai (戴立忍) in a Chinese film over his “vague” political stance is not an isolated case, but a long-running systemic problem, prominent Sunflower movement activist Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) said.
Cases of this sort highlight the predicament facing Taiwanese actors, Lin said, as Taiwan provides them few opportunities and they are forced to look to the Chinese market as an alternative.
Dai, the lead in the film No Other Love (沒有別的愛) directed by Chinese actress Zhao Wei (趙薇), was removed from the production by its investors for his vague position on whether Taiwan is part of China, whether he believes he is Chinese and because of his participation in various social movements in Taiwan, including the Sunflower movement.
Dai on Friday posted a 3,000-word statement on Sina Weibo saying he had “never supported Taiwanese independence” and that he is Chinese.
Expressing gratitude to Dai for his support in various social movements, Lin said he felt sad reading Dai’s statement, adding that what is needed now is not criticism, but ideas on how to establish political, economic and social independence in Taiwan.
Meanwhile, former Social Democratic Party convener Fan Yun (范雲) yesterday said on Facebook that she was even more saddened by Dai’s case than an incident involving Taiwanese K-pop singer Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜) earlier this year, because Chou, who was forced to issue an apology for briefly holding up a Republic of China flag on a South Korean variety show, is merely a teenager new to the industry, whereas Dai had been a long-time supporter of various social movements in Taiwan.
Fan said the first time she met Dai was during the Wild Strawberry movement in 2008 when the government clamped down on protests against a visit by then-chairman of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
“What kind of intimidation is used that can force an artist to give up even his most treasured values?” Fan said, adding that she believed it must have been painful for Dai to write his statement.
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