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Chinese-language film world split as Taiwan counts down to Golden Horse awards
- Cross-strait divide forces movie industry to take sides as mainland schedules Golden Roosters for the same night
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Sarah Zhengin Beijing
Taiwan will roll out the red carpet in Taipei on Saturday for its annual Golden Horse film awards, but this year the main competition will be outside the venue.
With cross-strait relations at a low, Beijing has decided to hold the mainland’s Golden Rooster awards on the same day as the prestigious Taiwanese event for Chinese-language films.
Beijing also announced a boycott of the Taipei event so the Golden Horse nominees this year come mostly from Taiwan and Southeast Asia – in previous years entries from mainland China and Hong Kong dominated the nominations for best feature film and director.
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The Golden Horse organisers have also chosen not to have hosts for their presentation ceremony this year, after Taiwanese documentary director Fu Yue voiced support for Taiwanese independence as she picked up her award in 2018.
Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office attributed the boycott to the frosty state of cross-strait relations, but analysts said it was also a response to Fu’s statement.
Beijing claims self-governed and democratic Taiwan as its own territory, and sees any actions or rhetoric about independence as crossing its political red lines.
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