Da Ai TV has canceled its new soap opera Jiachang’s Heart (智子之心), reportedly due to criticism from Chinese officials two days after the show’s pilot aired, sparking concerns about the reach of Chinese censorship.
The TV channel, which airs in Taiwan and China, is owned by the Tzu Chi Culture and Communication Foundation, a subsidiary of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, which is known for charitable work and private hospitals.
The show was inspired by the story of Tzu Chi volunteer Lin Chih-hui (林智惠), now 91, who was born in the Japanese colonial era and served as a Japanese military nurse in China during World War II.
Photo courtesy of Da Ai Television
The show’s trailer was panned by Chinese media, and local media reported that China’s Taiwan Affairs Office sent officials to the foundation’s office in Taiwan to investigate the show soon after the pilot aired on Thursday last week.
“It is clear from the 15-minute trailer that the first half of the series is kissing up to Japan,” local online media outlet ET Today cited China’s Global Times newspaper as saying in an opinion piece by a Chinese official.
Although Da Ai had denied receiving any complaints from Beijing, the channel on Saturday last week pulled the show off the air after broadcasting just two of 35 planned episodes.
China played no role in the show’s cancelation, Da Ai media development manager Ou Hung-yu (歐宏瑜) said on Monday.
The channel decided that the show’s depiction of war is contrary to its guideline of “purifying human hearts and encouraging social harmony,” Ou said, citing as an example a line of dialogue: “Let us go to the battlefield together.”
The show might retraumatize certain viewers, he added.
Asked to explain why Da Ai, which has a reputation for careful management of graphic content, approved the show, Ou said that the channel wishes to “avoid controversy.”
No viewers made any complaints about the show, he added.
The channel’s decision to shelve the show made little sense, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) said.
“There was no way to produce Schindler’s List without depicting Nazis, or make an American Civil War drama without mentioning slavery,” Wang said. “A nation cannot escape history, no matter how strong it is.”
Beijing’s ill treatment of an organization that has for many years conducted disaster relief and educational programs in China betrays a lack of gratitude, he said.
“The Taiwan Affairs Office now wants to come to Hualien to investigate the show. I say our government should deny visas to these officials,” Wang said.
It is a historical fact that Taiwan was under Japanese rule during that time and it is inappropriate for China to interfere in the workings of a religious organization, DPP Legislator Chang Hung-lu (張宏陸) said.
“I hope Tzu Chi will not back down from attempts by political forces to meddle in its affairs,” Chang said.
China has been suppressing the democratic freedoms and human rights of other nations by expanding its censorship of speech across borders, National Tsing Hua University professor of sociology Chen Ming-chi (陳明祺) said.
As a member of Taiwanese society, Tzu Chi has an obligation to stand with the freedom of speech, rather than allowing itself to be censored, he said.
“Without democracy, there will be no freedom of religion and no freedom for it to do good,” Chen said.
The Mainland Affairs Council issued a statement calling on Beijing to adopt a “more rational and peaceful mindset” toward Taiwanese cultural and artistic productions.
The freedom of speech is a universal right that should be respected and protected, it said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
The annual Taipei Summer Festival, which starts today, is to tone down its fireworks displays, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said on Monday. Fireworks displays are to be held at the riverside site in Datong District’s (大同) Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area on four days at this year’s festival, with the first today, and then on Wednesday next week, July 31 and Aug. 10, the department said. There were eight displays last year, with the reduction aimed at minimizing inconvenience to local residents, it said. The first three shows, which are all on Wednesdays, are to last for five minutes, while the final
EYE ON MAYORS: The DPP would file a complaint with the Control Yuan against Ko and Chiang over their handling of reports of abuse at a preschool in the city The Taipei City Government’s belated response under Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) and his predecessor, Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), to alleged child sex abuse at a kindergarten resulted in more children being victimized, two Taipei City Councilors said yesterday. A Taipei preschool teacher has been charged with sexually abusing six children from 2021 to last year at a school registered to his mother. Prosecutors are reportedly considering additional charges amid a wave of new accusations allegedly linking the suspect to 20 other abused children and the discovery at his residence of more than 600 sexually explicit videos featuring minors. The
FATAL ILLNESS: Untreated symptoms can rapidly worsen to complications such as high fever, seizures and loss of consciousness, and can be life-threatening, a doctor said Hospitals have been reporting dozens of people with heat-related illnesses every day over the past week, given continuous high daytime temperatures, so recognizing the early signs of heatstroke is crucial in preventing serious complications, a Taipei City Hospital emergency physician said. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a heat alert for 19 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures in New Taipei City, Miaoli County and Pingtung County likely to exceed 38°C, and temperatures in 12 cities and counties likely to exceed 36°C for three days straight. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses every day from