taff Writer
The three presidential candidates sat down separately yesterday with representatives of the cultural world to explain their culture policies.
Kuomintang candidate President Ma Ying-jeou, Democratic Progressive Party candidate Tsai Ing-wen and People First Party Chairman James Soong each chose a different hour yesterday afternoon to present their views and reply to questions from culture leaders.
The talks, held at Taipei’s Shih Hsin University, were broadcast live on television.
Tsai, who came first, condemned the abuse of culture by politics. Cultural attachés at Taiwan’s overseas representative offices had to have a background in culture.
She said Taiwan should not compete with China in trying to spread Chinese culture overseas. “Taiwan culture has its own characteristic elements,” she said. Chinese culture in Taiwan had become one element of a wider Taiwanese culture, and that was what Taiwan Institutes overseas needed to emphasize, Tsai said.
The opposition candidate also condemned the quest to have all cultural activities make a profit. The culture’s artistic values needed to be considered above all, she said.
Tsai also advocated the drawing up of a “Basic Culture Law” to encourage cultural talent to stay in Taiwan.
Soong criticized previous administrations for failing to take cultural policies seriously. The eight years of DPP government saw five Council for Cultural Affairs ministers, while in three years of Ma administration, there had already been three ministers, he said.
Previous governments valued the hardware more than the software, he said. Soong promised to double the culture budget if he won the election. The government needed to play a role of aggregator on the crossroads of Taiwanese, Chinese and world culture, he said.
Taiwan needed to build on its excellent bases of education and technology to achieve an international reputation for culture, Soong said.
Ma, who was the last of the three candidates to present his policies, defended the government’s decision to convert the CCA into a Ministry of Culture planned for next year. He also praised government policies giving subsidies to various cultural sectors and organizations.
He denied allegations from the cultural sector that the government had spent too much money on the celebrations of 100 years of Republic of China. CCA Minister Emile Sheng resigned last month to take responsibility for the spending of NT$200 million on a centennial musical which was only performed for two nights.
The president announced the formation of a National Cultural Forum to exchange views with the cultural sector on a regular basis, but said the government should not interfere directly in cultural issues.
Ma’s question-and-answer session was interrupted by an activist protesting against the destruction of the 1930s Le Sheng leprosy sanatorium in Hsinchuang, New Taipei City, to make way for a rapid-transit project. Outside, students hung banners to protest against the president’s attitude on the issue.
He faced several questions about the difficult balance between economy and culture, including criticism of a plan to build a theater in Hualien County’s scenic Taroko area.
Ma, Tsai and Soong will debate about a dozen of various issues in their final live televised debate tomorrow. A previous debate was held on December 3, while their running mates crossed swords on December 10.
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