Some say that depending economically on China is like being a diabetic whose insulin could be taken away at any moment. I think it's more like being a heroin addict because: it's harmful in the first place, the addict will do *absolutely anything* to get his or her next fix, and the pusher both knows their product is addictive and will take absolute advantage of that.
On March 2, 2010, hena (Taiwanese for "erhu" [二胡]) player Kenny Wen (溫金龍) appeared on the TV show 新聞挖挖哇 (loosely translated: "Wow, look at the news we dug up!") and discussed some unsavory showbiz-related things that happened while he lived and performed in China.
I'm grateful to see Wen reveal the kind of tactics that are used by China to ensure the uninterrupted flow of propaganda, but it sure seems to me that it's his own (and many others') greed that allows such things to happen.
While he claims that the fees he was paid were quite high (RMB10,000 for a single TV performance or RMB50-80,000 for private gigs) compared to those he received in Taiwan, he had to provide "red envelopes" to locals involved in the business.
Worse than that, when he recorded an introduction for a Beijing TV station saying "大家好。我是台灣來的溫金龍。 (Hi, I'm Kenny Wen from Taiwan)" (which seems completely innocent), the director yelled "Cut!" and Wen was told to change it to "我是溫金龍。我很高興回到祖國內地。 (I'm Kenny Wen, and I'm glad to be back in the interior of the motherland)," emphasizing that not a single word about "interior" or "motherland" could be changed in order for the recording to proceed.
A Chinese reporter even berated him for mentioning in a written introduction that he performed at Taiwan's Presidential Office (whose authority they do not recognize) or being a member of "Outstanding Youth in the ROC."
Listen also to reporter 許聖梅 talk about how commentators from Taiwan -- making recordings in Taiwan that are to be aired in China -- can't say "中國的觀眾朋友大家好 (Hello viewers in China)" but are told to say "祖國的同胞們大家好 (Hello, compatriots on the motherland)" instead. "You really have to understand their use of vocabulary," she tells viewers, and explains how some of these people voluntarily reduce Taiwan to a "locality" when recording these shows.
People will do terrible things for some of that poisonous renminbi, but for those trying to annex Taiwan to China, it's worth every mao (cent).
Wen got greedy about food, women, and money (all discussed in other segments of the show), but in the end, what did he gain, was it worth it, and how many people have been harmed by what he did? Did he learn anything? Even after all that, he still calls China "大陸 (the mainland)."
AUDIO:
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* Al Di Meola, "Beijing Demons," from the CD "Tirami Su"
* Jan Svankmajer's "Faust" (1994)
Related reading:
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Jet TV page for 新聞挖挖哇:
http://www.jettv.com.tw/program/show.asp?ID=267
The old SuperTV page for 新聞挖挖哇:
http://www.supertv.com.tw/recreation/ListDate.asp?DramaNo=69
Tags: Taiwan 台灣 Cheng Hung-yi 鄭弘儀 Yu Mei-ren 于美人 Kenny Wen 溫金龍 hena erhu 二胡 新聞挖挖哇 China 中國 propaganda 宣傳
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