Premier Lin Chuan （林全） yesterday said that actors and actresses should be judged on their acting, not their politics, after Taiwanese director-actor Leon Dai （戴立忍） was replaced in a Chinese movie over his "unclear" political stance.
"People in the entertainment business should be evaluated for their professional performance, not their political stance," Lin said. "In any society, it is more important for people in the entertainment industry to do their best in performing."
"I hope this will not become a regular occurrence," he said.
Lin said that the Ministry of Culture had launched policies to improve the entertainment industry so actors and actresses could develop their careers more fully.
Lin made the remarks in response to reporters' questions on the replacement of Dai in the film No Other Love （沒有別的愛） directed by Chinese actress Zhao Wei （趙薇）.
Dai was accused of supporting "Taiwanese independence" because of his participation in social movements in Taiwan — including campaigns against nuclear power, the Sunflower movement and a campaign by high-school students against changes to history curriculum guidelines — and his support of a call by Hong Kong's pro-democracy advocates for the direct election of the territory's chief executive.
After his removal was announced, Dai issued a 3,000-word statement denying the accusations.
In a post on Sina Weibo （新浪微博） on Friday evening, Dai detailed his family background, saying he was born to a father who fled to Taiwan amid the Chinese Civil War in the 1940s and a mother whose family has been in Taiwan for generations.
He said both Taiwan and China are his roots, adding that he believes he is an authentic Chinese, while stressing that he never supported or campaigned for Taiwanese independence.
He said he spoke during the Sunflower movement, not because he was opposed to the cross-strait trade pact, which the protests were aimed at, but because he did not want to see the movement end in bloodshed.
He said that a picture of him holding a placard supporting the direct election of Hong Kong's chief executive emerged because someone came to him with the placard and asked for a photograph together and that he agreed without giving it a second thought.
Dai said that he criticized then-minister of education Wu Se-hwa's （吳思華） changes to high-school curriculum guidelines because a student committed suicide.
"My participation in civil movements was not political," Dai said.
Dai said he understood the decision to replace him in the movie and he apologized to investors in the film and the crew for the controversy surrounding his past.
Another actor in the movie issued an apology and responded to criticism that she was anti-China.
In an video posted online on Friday night, actress Kiko Mizuhara, born Audrie Kiko Daniel, responded to three recent incidents that were at the center of criticism against her among the online community.
Chinese netizens said a photograph at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honors people who died fighting on behalf of the Japanese emperor, including 30,304 Taiwanese soldiers killed in World War II, showed Mizuhara visiting the site, which is seen by many as a symbol of Japan's wartime militarism.
She denied being in the photograph.
Regarding another image, she said she was accused of "posing offensively in front of a flag."
However, "I am not in the picture," Daniel said.
Netizens in China also said she "liked" a photograph posted on Instagram in 2013 by a friend of hers that showed a man gesturing toward a structure at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
Mizuhara said that she "liked" the photo to encourage her friend to make more use of social media.
Mizuhara's father is American and her mother is a Japan-born South Korean. Mizuhara was born in the US and moved to Japan at age two.
Premier Lin Chuan, third left, answers reporters' questions in Hsinchu County yesterday. Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Taipei Times
Actress Audrie Kiko Daniel denies that she has visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Japan in a video posted on a Chinese microblogging site, saying that she is not the person in the picture praying at the shrine. Screengrab from the Internet
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Recommended article from FiveFilters.org: Most Labour MPs in the UK Are Revolting.
'PARALLEL STATE': Turkish President Erdogan blamed the revolt, which left 265 people dead and thousands injured, on Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen
/ AFP, ANKARA
Turkish authorities yesterday said they had regained control of the country after thwarting an attempt that claimed more than 250 lives by discontented soldiers to seize power from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
After the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year rule, Erdogan urged his backers to stay on the streets to prevent a possible "flare-up" of Friday's chaos in the strategic NATO member of 80 million people.
With at least 2,839 soldiers already detained in a relentless roundup over the coup, authorities blamed the conspiracy on Erdogan's archenemy, US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.
"The situation is completely under control," Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said outside his Ankara offices, flanked by Turkey's top general, who had allegedly been taken hostage by the plotters.
Describing the attempted coup as a "black stain" on Turkey's democracy, Yildirim said 161 people had been killed in the night of violence and 1,440 wounded.
This toll did not appear to include 104 rebel soldiers killed overnight, bringing the overall death toll from the bloodshed to 265.
On a night where power was in the balance, large crowds of flag-waving supporters of Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party defied a curfew and marched onto streets to block the attempt to overthrow the regime.
Erdogan used Twitter to urge people onto the streets to ensure no further challenges to his power.
"We should keep on owning the streets tonight no matter at what stage [the coup attempt is at] because a new flare-up could take place at any moment," he said.
As the dust settled on a dramatic and chaotic night, TV footage yesterday showed extensive damage to the Grand National Assembly complex, home to Turkey's parliament, in Ankara, which was bombed by rebel warplanes.
Friday's putsch bid began with rebel F-16 warplanes screaming low over rooftops in Ankara, soldiers and tanks taking to the streets and multiple explosions throughout the night in the capital, as well as the country's biggest city, Istanbul.
Rebel troops also moved to block the two bridges across the Bosphorus in Istanbul, culminating in a standoff with an angry crowd.
As protesters poured onto the streets, a photojournalist reported seeing troops open fire on people gathered near one of the bridges, leaving dozens wounded.
Soldiers also shot at protesters angrily denouncing the coup bid at Istanbul's Taksim Square, injuring several.
Government F-16s launched airstrikes against tanks stationed by coup backers outside the presidential palace in Ankara.
As the popular tide turned against them, dozens of soldiers backing the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul they had held throughout the night, holding their hands above their heads as they were detained, TV footage showed.
Erdogan pinned the blame on "the parallel state" and "Pennsylvania" — a reference to Pennsylvania-based cleric Gulen, whom he has accused of seeking to overthrow him.
However, the president's former ally "categorically" denied any involvement in the plot, calling the accusation "insulting."
Yildirim took aim at the US for hosting what he called "the leader of a terrorist organization."
"Whichever country is behind him is not a friend of Turkey and in a serious war against Turkey," he added.
Meanwhile, Turkey demanded the extradition of eight people thought to have been involved in the putsch who landed in a UH-60 Black Hawk military helicopter in Greece.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Recommended article from FiveFilters.org: Most Labour MPs in the UK Are Revolting.
Two paintings by renowned painter Yang San-lang （楊三郎） that had been kept in storage for about six decades and nearly discarded by National Taiwan University's department of forestry and resource conservation are to see the light of day after they were salvaged and restored.
Yang, born in 1907, is regarded as a national treasure for his contributions to the establishment and development of Taiwanese art. He died in 1995.
Department head Yuan Hsiao-wei （袁孝維） said Yang painted the two pictures, titled Landscape I and Landscape II, 58 years ago at the behest of Tso Mao-hsiung （鄒茂雄）, an alumnus, to mark the inauguration of the department's research building.
Due to Tso's background as a former student, he had access to the Xitou Forest in Nantou County and took Yang there, where he painted the pieces, Yuan said, adding that Yang agreed to let the department purchase the two paintings in 1958 for a small fee.
However, the paintings were put in a storage room while the office was being decorated, and when Tso found out about it, he reportedly said: "If you do not cherish the paintings, I will buy them back for NT$2 million" （US$62,519 at today's exchange rate）.
The paintings were put on display again, but they sustained serious damage when leaks occurred at the office, as they were not treated with water repellent, Yuan said.
In addition, an employee left a fingernail mark in one of the paintings, she said.
"About 20 years ago, department staff tried to dump the paintings into a garbage truck, but couldn't because the frames were too big," she added.
Yuan said that in 2013, she thought about having the paintings restored and had them examined, but an appraisal declared that they were counterfeits.
To verify the paintings' authenticity, she requested the help of Taipei National University of the Arts professor emeritus Lin Pao-yao （林保堯） and InSian Gallery director Ou Hsien-cheng （歐賢政）, with whom Yang had a close working relationship.
The experts declared the paintings to be authentic, Yuan said.
The department then began to raise funds to restore the paintings, Yuan said.
The paintings are to be displayed at the department building so that the public can appreciate Taiwan's rustic scenery, she said.
There are no more than 30 paintings by Yang circulating on the market, Ou said, adding that a well-preserved piece signed by Yang can fetch about NT$10 million.
Teachers, students and friends of National Taiwan University's department of forestry and resource conservation yesterday hold up two renovated paintings by Taiwanese painter Yang San-lang. Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Recommended article from FiveFilters.org: Most Labour MPs in the UK Are Revolting.
沒有留言:
張貼留言
注意：只有此網誌的成員可以留言。