Culture spending to hit NT$65.9bn: Lai

The government’s overall culture-related funding would reach NT$65.9 billion (US$2.07 billion) next year, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he outlined four priorities for the development of nation’s cultural sector. Taiwan’s economy has expanded rapidly in the past few years, with economic growth expected to exceed 11 percent this year, while average per capita national income is projected to reach US$46,000, giving Taiwan an opportunity to become one of the world’s 20 largest economies, Lai said at the National Cultural Conference in Taipei. “While a strong economy makes a country powerful, culture is what makes a country great,” he said. “Technology allows Taiwan to move fast, while culture enables it to go far.” Photo: Screen grab from the Presidential Office’s Flickr page Referring to his presidential campaign proposals for cultural sustainability and a “global Taiwan,” Lai said his administration would continue to increase cultural spending. While the Ministry of Culture’s budget has been substantially cut or frozen by the legislature over the past two years, the Executive Yuan would not reduce its support for cultural development, he said. The government has allocated NT$28.8 billion to expenditures overseen by the ministry next year, Lai said. The total reaches NT$32 billion, an increase of about 7.9 percent from the previous year, when general-purpose subsidies are included, he added. Factoring in special funds and related expenditures from other ministries and agencies, overall cultural spending would reach NT$65.9 billion, demonstrating the government’s resolve to support culture, he said. Lai outlined four priorities for the nation’s cultural development amid challenges posed by artificial intelligence, digital transformation and changing global environment: cultivating future generations, strengthening local cultural identity, promoting technology innovation while safeguarding human dignity and helping the world better understand Taiwan. Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and Minister of Culture Li Yuan (李遠) also attended the opening ceremony of the conference. The government would continue to support culture, particularly efforts to bring Taiwanese culture to international audiences, Cho said in his speech. “The government’s support for culture will never retreat. We will continue moving forward,” he said. Taiwan faces two major challenges in promoting its culture domestically and internationally, he said. Domestically, the nation must resist “cultural killers” and protect cultural industries, he said, referring to legislative cuts to the Ministry of Culture’s budget. Internationally, as foreign cultural influences are spreading through film and television, and the use of certain words and social media, such as Douyin (抖音) — the Chinese version of TikTok — Taiwan must guard against the erosion of cultural subjectivity, he said. “If we cannot protect the subjectivity of Taiwan’s local culture, the encroachment of foreign cultures will erode the fundamental spirit of our democratic constitutional order and damage the hard-won foundations of our local culture,” he said. The recommendations that emerged from the National Cultural Conference would be discussed by the Cabinet’s cultural affairs board, he said. GEOPOLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The CGA’s nonmilitary role makes it a tool to avert diplomatic issues, an official said, while confirming the donation of a ship to Manila Coast Guard Administration (CGA) ships are scheduled to sail to the Philippines bearing the words “Taiwan Coast Guard” in a high-profile visit in October next year, the first such visit by a Taiwanese maritime law enforcement vessel to the Southeast Asian nation, the agency said yesterday. The CGA also confirmed that it had donated one of its decommissioned patrol vessels to the Philippines in a rare transfer of a retired ship to a nondiplomatic ally. The Republic of China (ROC) Navy last made such a visit in 1974, shortly before the Philippines switched diplomatic recognition to the People’s Republic of China in ‘GLOBAL WARNING’: The infiltration is not just a local problem, as Beijing has been deploying the same tactics worldwide against Western democracies, a report said Between 50,000 and 100,000 Chinese spies are operating in Taiwan, far more than the National Security Bureau’s previous estimate of 5,000, German journalist and author Jurgen Kremb said on Monday. Kremb presented his research, titled “The War of Spies: How China’s Intelligence Services Are Infiltrating Taiwan — and What Europe Must Learn from It,” at a joint event held by the Taiwan offices of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the European Values Center for Security Policy. The report was published in June in the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau’s Prospect & Exploration Monthly (展望與探索月刊). By spies, he said he was referring to informants, CALL FOR CHANGE: They urged the UN to facilitate Taiwan’s involvement in the body, recognize its peace efforts and to work with members in preventing military conflict Representatives to the UN from five of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies sent a joint letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday, calling for the country’s inclusion in the body. Allies in the letter sent ahead of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly General Debate made three demands in support of Taiwan: inclusion, recognition and camaraderie. They implored the UN to seek an appropriate way to facilitate Taiwan’s meaningful involvement in the world governing body, saying that UN Resolution 2758, which accepted the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a member of the UN, does not exclude Taiwan. Beijing claims that the WASHINGTON MEETING: Japan’s Hirofumi Takinami said participants rejected the idea that the US should limit its defensive perimeter to the Second Island Chain US and Japanese lawmakers agree that the US must defend the First Island Chain, including Taiwan, and should not fall back to the Second Island Chain, while “a Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency and therefore a US-Japan alliance contingency,” media reported after a meeting between officials of the two nations in Washington on Tuesday. A delegation of Japanese lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic Party met with US Senator Thom Tillis, co-chair of the Senate Taiwan Caucus, and US Representative Ami Bera, co-chair of the US Congressional Taiwan caucus, to discuss issues concerning East Asia and the Taiwan Strait. The Japanese and