p***y
发帖数: 18037 | 1 This is such an interesting read.
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http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/28/opinion/taiwan-china-ang-lee-osca
Why Ang Lee's Oscar puts identity center stage
By Andrew Ryan, Special to CNN
updated 1:55 AM EST, Thu February 28, 2013
Bringing 'Life of Pi' to life
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Ang Lee's name beamed on building in Taiwan after Oscar win
Lee, born in Taiwan, won award for best director for "Life of Pi"
Lee's win created excitement in Taiwan and China, both claimed him as their
own
Ryan: "In some ways it feels like 'Linsanity' all over again"
Editor's note: Andrew Ryan is a host and producer at Radio Taiwan
International, a government-owned station that broadcasts in several
languages and countries. He first came to Taiwan in 1996 as a Fulbright
scholar and has spent the last 16 years as a translator and observer of
politics and culture.
Taipei (CNN) -- It's not every territory in the world that puts an Oscar-
winning director's name up in lights on a towering building. But that's just
the sort of thing that happens in Taiwan -- and it did on Monday night
after Ang Lee picked up his second "Best Director" Oscar, this time for "
Life of Pi."
The moment wasn't just celebrated in grand statements, but in small scenes
played out in front of televisions across Taiwan when his name was announced.
I was at a TV station in Taipei that was broadcasting live coverage of the
Oscars, working with a team of translators that was creating the subtitles
for the rebroadcast. When Lee's name was announced the office erupted in
applause. Down the hallway, more cheering could be heard.
I couldn't help but think back to the Athens Games in 2004, when Chen Shih-
hsin won Taiwan's first ever Olympic gold medal (under the team name "
Chinese Taipei"). Even veteran news anchors shed tears when the young
taekwondo star defeated her Cuban rival.
Ang Lee on winning Best Director Oscar China's Hollywood dream China's
Hollywood dream
It would be reductive to suggest that these displays of patriotism are
simply the response of a small country that just doesn't crank out that many
Oscar winners or Olympic golds. It also speaks of a place that has been
largely marginalized in the international community.
Today, Taiwan has just 23 official diplomatic allies -- mostly other
marginalized nations, in Central America and Africa. That's because China
still sees Taiwan as part of its territory more than 60 years after the
Chinese Nationalists retreated to the island at the end of a Civil War
against the Communists. The Nationalists -- or Kuomintang -- are now the
ruling party in a democratic Taiwan, which is officially called the Republic
of China (ROC) -- not to be confused with the People's Republic of China on
the Mainland.
Having lost its seat at the United Nations to the PRC in 1971, the ROC found
itself with a diminished voice in the international community. It turned to
manufacturing and technology in the 1980s, spurring on what is now referred
to as an "economic miracle." Today, with its economy struggling to move
past the global economic downturn, Taiwan has added the arts, sports, and
even baking to its repertoire.
What's striking about Lee's win is that it's not just people in Taiwan who
were quick to claim him as one of their own. In China, the state-run Xinhua
news agency referred to him as "Chinese-American." While Taiwanese media
latched onto the portion of Lee's acceptance speech when he thanked Taiwan
and the central city of Taichung where much of the movie was filmed, Xinhua'
s main story included Lee's line of thanks to the 3,000 people who worked on
the film for "believing this story and sharing this incredible journey with
me."
In some ways it feels like "Linsanity" all over again, when Taiwan and China
both claimed basketball star Jeremy Lin as their own, leaving the
international media struggling to chart the dangerous waters of identity
politics to correctly describe him.
A very small voice at the fringe of the discussion wonders why it's
important for people to know that Lin's paternal grandmother lives in Taiwan
and referred to him as "a real Taiwanese," or that Lee grew up in Tainan
and still loves to visit his favorite noodle shop there. Others in Taiwan
question why a nation's confidence should be based on its success in the
international community.
When Ang Lee's name was announced, the office erupted in applause. Down the
hallway, more cheering could be heard.
With China looming to the north, now the world's second biggest economy and
wielding an influence that's verging on "superpower" status, the metaphor of
Jonah and the whale comes to mind. The Taiwanese electorate is sharply
divided on how it feels about the way ties with China have warmed ever since
President Ma Ying-jeou first took office in 2008. The benefits are obvious,
considering China is Taiwan's largest trade partner, but some worry that it
could lead to a loss in autonomy.
The Ma administration has been mindful of the nationalistic rhetoric of the
opposition, and although the president was born in Hong Kong, he has
referred to himself in the past as "Taiwanese as well as Chinese." Ma was
also quick to congratulate Lee following the Oscars, and to urge others to
follow in the director's footsteps and "work hard at promoting Taiwan to the
world."
Lee is just one name on a growing list of national heroes that both the
government and the private sector have celebrated in recent years for
putting Taiwan on the map: people like fashion designer Jason Wu, who moved
to Canada from Taiwan and has created garments for U.S. First Lady Michelle
Obama; master baker Wu Pao-chun, who beat the French patissiers at their own
competition -- Les Masters de la Boulangerie in 2010; Yani Tseng, the world
's number one female golfer; and even the humble vegetable seller-turned-
philanthropist Chen Shu-chu, who was selected by Time Magazine as one of its
heroes of 2010.
So what are people saying when they embrace these heroes as Taiwanese? They
are saying "Taiwan may be small and diplomatically isolated, but it deserves
to have a voice in the international community." While Lee may not speak
about politics and no longer creates movies about Taiwan, he does have a
voice and people do listen. And that's worth spreading in lights across the
world's second-tallest building. | m******f
发帖数: 270 | 2 台湾人渴望被国际瞩目，need attention。
其他的小国会不会有同样的渴望？ |
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