Beijing on a culture offensiveBeijing on a culture offensive

Just three months after China signed a landmark free-trade agreement with Taiwan, its cultural minister has made overtures here, hoping to sign a similar groundbreaking deal with the island - on cultural exchanges.

China's Minister of Culture Cai Wu, who was on a first-ever visit to Taiwan in early September, said cultural exchanges should be immediately stepped up and the two sides should sign a cultural cooperation agreement.

While the suggestion aroused fear among Taiwanese critics that such an agreement could lead to a flood of cheaper cultural products from China, which could hurt Taiwan's arts, culture andentertainment industry, Cai and China's intentions may not simply be centered on making money from exports of cultural products.

Details have yet to be given, but China's motivations are clear - it hopes to draw the two sides across the Taiwan Strait closer, with cultural ties.

Fan Liqing, spokesperson of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, told a press conference in Beijing following Cai's visit that cross-strait cultural exchanges can deepen mutual understanding between people on the two sides and reduce their estrangement. China considers Taiwan to be a "renegade province".

"While cross-strait ties are facing a critical moment for peaceful development, people on both sides are also eager to engage in comprehensive cultural exchange and cooperation, and therefore it's necessary for both sides of the strait to build a cultural exchange and cooperation mechanism by signing a pact in this regard," Fan said.

This is not surprising. China sees culture as an important link between the two sides and wants to strengthen cultural connections so that Taiwan won't "slip away". Beijing has long tried to strengthen its ties with the island by emphasizing their cultural similarity and that much of Taiwanese culture originated in China.

Beijing is not quite sure that trade benefits, tourism dollars and the large procurements China has been giving Taiwan lately on a silver platter will eventually convince the island to return to the "motherland", Beijing's mindset is that it is best to maintain the current momentum of positive development in relations, by continuously reminding Taiwanese people of the two sides' historical ties and cultural similarities, in hopes of winning over Taiwanese people and convincing them they belong with China.

And what better way to do it than through heritage and culture - something that seems harmless and non-controversial?

Currently, there are still restrictions in terms of cultural exchanges between the two sides. Since the landmark trade deal - the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement - was signed in late June, China no longer requires Taiwan's films to apply for permission to enter China as part of the annual quota of 50 foreign films allowed in the mainland. But Taiwan still restricts the number of Chinese films shown here to 10 each year.

If Chinese movies, music, and live performances were allowed to enter Taiwan unrestricted, China would essentially be carrying out a subtle, but widespread and potentially very effective campaign to woo Taiwanese people with its culture. After all, who can resist the charms of China's "Lady Buddha With Thousand Hands" dancers or the knockout effects of Shaolin martial-arts monks? At the very least, more Taiwanese people would be exposed to Chinese culture and possibly leave a movie theater or performance with a warmer feeling about the mainland.

In the past, cultural exchanges between the two sides have been largely one-way - mainly Taiwanese pop music and movies exported to China. But since cross-strait relations have improved after Taiwan's China-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou was elected in 2008, the two sides have carried out unprecedented two-way exchanges.

These include the first-ever joint exhibition between the two sides' National Palace Museums last year. A second one is opening in Taipei this month. Also this year, a production of famous Chinese director Zhang Yimou's Puccini opera Turandot was staged in Taiwan. And even a People's Liberation Army singer and China's top comedian Zhao Benshan - whose humor many would say is very much tied to mainland China's history and culture - have given performances here. Tickets for Zhang's and Zhao's shows were sold out.

Interestingly, even as Chinese officials lose no opportunity to assert that much of Taiwan's culture is tied to China's, Chinese local governments and organizations are increasingly seeking Taiwan's help in stitching back together China's tapestry of traditional culture. That's because Taiwan has kept alive much of the old arts, culture and traditional customs that were nearly wiped out in China during previous decades of political turmoil climaxing in the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).

Temple officials in China's Fujian province have sought help from Taiwan's Da Jia Jenn Lann Temple in rebuilding their destroyed or neglected temples to honor the Fujian-born Goddess of the Sea, Mazu - and in reviving the tradition of honoring her. Immigrants from Fujian brought their faith in Mazu to Taiwan in the 17th century. Since then, Taiwanese people's worship of her has never waned, but only grown in scale and elaborateness.

Prior to 2008, many of Taiwan's cultural exports to China have been in the form of pop music - such as CDs and concerts by singers A-Mei and Jay Chou. But increasingly, Taiwan is sharing its expertise in and performances of a wider host of culture - from ancient court music long neglected in China to celebrations of the Lantern Festival.

But Taiwanese officials are not unaware of the possible consequence of moving too close to China culturally. In response to the mainland Chinese suggestions of inking a cultural agreement, Taiwanese officials gave only a lukewarm response. Emile Sheng, minister of Taiwan's Council for Cultural Affairs, told reporters that while China might think the two sides have cultural similarities, Taiwan's culture is more than just Chinese culture - it has developed over the years to "Chinese culture with Taiwanese characteristics".

He and many other Taiwanese believe that Taiwan's culture is a combination of indigenous aboriginal culture as well as cultures from China, the Netherlands, Japan, the United States and now increasingly Southeast Asia, due to the influx of Vietnamese and Indonesian brides. These different influences reflect Taiwan's unique history, including its history as a former Japanese and Dutch colony.

What also defines Taiwan's culture is the island's free and open society - where the government, unlike China's government, is a supporter, not a regulator and key decision-maker, of arts and cultural development, Sheng said.

In response to the Chinese officials' remarks, Kao Koong-lian, vice chairman and secretary general of the Straits Exchange Foundation - Taiwan's top negotiation body with China - said any future agreement on cultural exchanges between Taiwan and mainland China would involve extensive negotiations. He said there was currently no timetable on signing such an agreement.

"In this regard, there is no fixed answer for the moment," Kao was quoted by Taiwan's Central News Agency as saying.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese authorities are also aware of the importance of distinguishing Taiwan's culture from China's.

President Ma is clearly a fan of traditional Chinese culture - he's a strong advocate for traditional Chinese characters and since he came to office, the Ministry of Education has decided to make calligraphy writing a must-have skill for elementary and junior-high school teachers, so they can teach it to the students.

Under his administration, the two sides have also begun working on a joint Chinese thesaurus.

But Ma and his administration are aware that there are risks to getting too close to China culturally. Under his administration, he has tried to boost Taiwan's image, by promoting its arts overseas, giving performance groups subsidies to perform abroad, funding filmmaking and soon opening Taiwan Academies, which will be similar to the United Kingdom's British Councils overseas.

Analysts said the Taiwan Academies, which Taiwan plans to open by the end of this year, starting in the United States, are partly in response to the hundreds of Confucius Institutes that China has opened abroad in recent years. While China's institutes teach simplified Chinese characters used in China, Taiwan's will teach the traditional Chinese characters still used in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The Confucius Institutes are just one example of how China's embrace of its traditional culture in recent decades has challenged Taiwan's traditional role as the keeper of Chinese culture, analysts said.

"Taiwan had in the past been considered the preserver of Chinese culture. So this role has been taken away from Taiwan," said Kou Chien-wen, an associate professor of political science at National Chengchi University in Taipei.

"In terms of military and economics, Taiwan can no longer beat the mainland; now that China is promoting Chinese culture, then what's Taiwan's strength?" asked Kou, who specializes in cross-strait relations.

Wang Yu-chih, a Presidential Office spokesman until recently, said Ma's desire to open the Taiwan Academies is mainly because he thinks there is a global trend to learn Chinese.

"China has opened Confucius schools, but they teach simplified Chinese. Ma feels we've preserved Chinese language and culture very well, so we would like to spread it," Wang said. "His main feeling is traditional words best reflect Chinese culture. Preserved Chinese culture, ancient poems, books are in traditional characters. Words are culture."

Those familiar with indigenous affairs, meanwhile, say that under Ma's administration, the government line on indigenous people's wish for self-determination and government funding for promoting indigenous culture have slid, compared to during his predecessor, pro-Taiwan independence Chen Shui-bian's administration.

This is ironic, they said, because if Taiwan is to promote its uniqueness from China, then its indigenous culture is what makes it most different from China. Indigenous tribes settled in Taiwan thousands of years before the Chinese immigrants arrived.

"During the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) era [when Chen was president], indigenous policies improved a lot. Many people criticized him for having political motives, but it was like some enlightenment. He encouraged self-determination, self-governance, and nation-to-nation contacts between Taiwan's Austronesian indigenous people and indigenous people of other nations," said Kolas Yotaka, an anchorwoman and senior journalist at Taiwan Indigenous Television.

Under Ma, priorities have changed, said Yotaka.

"It's very obvious - under Ma's administration, they don't want to push forward Austronesian foreign exchanges. Funding has dropped. In the past, we had meetings with other countries, like Palau's president with our indigenous leaders. An Austronesian forum was held for many years; that was cut. Palau has an Austronesian museum; each year, Chen used to give funding to support the museum, but that has stopped."

Kou said funding for various aspects of Taiwan's culture often change depending on who is in power - the Kuomintang Party, which came from China, or the DPP, which has advocated Taiwan's formal independence from China.

"In the past, Chen also wanted to raise Taiwan's profile, but he focused on promoting local indigenous culture, he didn't give much funding to pingju [Beijing Opera], for example, while he funded Taiwan-centered culture, such as puppet theaters," said Kou. "It's different with different parties."

Ordinary Taiwanese people, meanwhile, may not be aware of the underlying politics of cultural exchanges with China, but many are enjoying the flourishing of exchanges between the two sides.

Sitting transfixed watching a video promoting scenic attractions at an exhibit organized by China's Guizhou province in Taipei, Charles Lin said he came to see the exhibit of Guizhou arts and cultural performances after seeing an ad in the newspaper. He doesn't know where his ancestors came from, but guesses they probably came from Fujian province.

"I would love to go to Guizhou if I have the opportunity," said Lin, who visited another part of China 20 years ago, but has never been back since. "Taiwanese people are more interested in China now than before."

Mandopop videos get raunchy

We expect risque music videos from the likes of Western pop stars like Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, and Madonna.

But in Asia? Well, kiss traditional Asian conservatism goodbye and say hello to a whole new generation of Mandopop music videos.

Vocal powerhouse A-mei, dance diva Jolin Tsai and even sweetie-pie Xian Zi are leading a revolution in Asian music videos. Their productions are raising the sex quotient - and temperatures - by baring all and leaving little to the imagination.

Jolin's alleged bare-all bathtub scenes in her music video 'Love Player' has caused a major stir, while the lesser-known Xian Zi's intimate scenes with a male actor in her music video 'You Belong to You' drew some much desired attention.

A-mei's 2009 music video 'After The Sentimental Love Of Animals' remains the raunchiest of them all. Its drawn out sex scenes between two unnamed actors even earned an R21 rating from Singapore's Media Development Authority.

But with or without a restricted rating, these music videos will find an audience on the Internet in today's age of borderless access.

The question is - must Mandopop artistes resort to nudity to sell their music?

Have they done a tasteful job, and do Mandopop fans here really crave such videos?