On February 10, 2025, a host of Taiwanese writers issued a declaration demanding the recall of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators who proposed to cut NT$1.1 billion and freeze NT$3.4 billion from the Ministry of Culture’s annual budget. Officials and writers are worried that this may damage the development of Taiwanese literature and its promotion in the international scene.
More than 200 Taiwanese writers signed this petition, among whom are renowned names, such as Wu Ming-Yi, who was nominated for the Man Booker International prize for his novel The Stolen Bicycle in 2018; Kevin Chen, whose Ghost Town was selected by Library Journal in the category of Best of World Literature 2022; and Yang Shuang-zi, whose novel Taiwan Travelogue received the U.S. National Book Awards for Translated Literature in 2024.
In the declaration, the signees wrote that:
We are deeply concerned with the serious consequences this cut may cause. In recent years, Taiwanese literature has been enjoying increasing visibility around the world. This is the direct output of the Ministry of Culture’s policy of translating and promoting Taiwanese literature abroad. The budget of the Ministry of Culture for 2025 should be discussed and negotiated by the end of 2024. Yet, due to delays caused by the oppositional Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), the cut proposal was passed without proper deliberation. Carried out haphazardly, the proposal undermines Taiwan’s cultural policy and the growth of Taiwanese literature for both short and long term. To protect Taiwanese literature and culture, we declare that we support the removal of unqualified legislators until they stop marring the future prospects of Taiwanese literature.
Taiwanese writers are not the only ones who are worried about the cut. On 17 January 2025, more than 8800 Taiwanese publishers, bookstore owners, writers, and people across the cultural sector signed a petition against the budget cut. The cut in the annual budget not only applies to culture, but also to other spheres such as national defense, health, cybersecurity, disaster prevention, social welfare and so on. Many civic groups in Taiwan have begun a large-scale recall campaign against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators.
以上是「2025 主張罷免不適任立委，是我們的義務」台灣文學作家連署的英文版新聞稿（由林蔚昀老師提供）。
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