A Taiwanese army officer has been punished for screening The Eight Hundred, a mainland Chinese war film depicting Kuomintang forces fighting Japanese troops during World War II.
The punishment has triggered a political row on the island over Beijing’s state-led messaging to sway opinions in Taiwan as well as historical interpretation and military education on the island.The controversy emerged after ruling Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Wang Ting-yu revealed during a legislative meeting on Monday that a battalion commander in the Taiwanese army’s 153rd Brigade had ordered the film be shown to troops earlier this year.Advertisement
The unit, part of the Sixth Army Corps based in Yilan, later drew scrutiny for the screening.
Wellington Koo Li-hsiung, Taiwan’s defence minister, responded that the screening had been directed by the battalion commander and not initiated at the company level.
AdvertisementThis prompted Wang to question why a film seen as a Communist Party “united front” production and meant to influence Taiwan had been played by and for the island’s military.A poster for “The Eight Hundred”, a mainland Chinese film directed by Guan Hu. The 2020 film dramatises the 1937 defence of Shanghai’s Sihang Warehouse during the Battle of Shanghai. Photo: HandoutAdvertisementSelect VoiceSelect Speed0.8x0.9x1.0x1.1x1.2x1.5x1.75x00:0000:001.00x
