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From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 11/4/2006 2:18 PM
Taiwan accused of barring Cuban, Chechen poets from poetry festival
Publication time: 4 November 2006, 08:05
Taipei Diplomacy Culture Taiwan accused of barring Cuban, Chechen poets from poetry festival Taipei attending the 2006 Taipei Poetry Festival for political reasons, a newspaper reported Friday.
The Taipei city government invited six foreign poets to the seventh Taipei Poetry Festival scheduled from October 28 to November 11, but the Foreign Ministry has refused to issue entry visa to Cuban poet Nancy Morejon and Chenchen poet Apti Bisultanov, The Liberty Times said.
The Foreign Ministry said it rejected the pair's visa applications because Cuba is a Communist country and because Taiwan is in the process of opening a representative office in Vladivostock and does not want to anger Russia by receiving a Chechen poet.
But when the Liberty Times questioned Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Chien-yeh on Thursday, Wang denied political considerations were involved in the decisions.
Wang said that Bisultanov, who has been in exile in Berlin since 2004, approached Taiwan's representative office in Germany for the visa.
"He held a Germany-issued refugee travel document which was valid for less than six month, so we could not issue him the visa because we can only issue visas to a foreigner who holds a valid travel document (which is valid for at least six months)," Wang said.
As for Morejon, Wang said she could not obtain a visa because Taiwan does not have a diplomatic mission in Cuba and an applicant must go to a diplomatic mission to apply for a visa.
But the Taipei city government and Taiwan poets insist there are political considerations for denying visas to the two poets.
Hong Hong, a poet and designer of the Taipei Poetry Festival, said he asked lawmaker Lin Cho-shui to plead with Foreign Minister Huang Chih-fang about the visas.
Huang said "Taiwan will soon open a representative office in Vladivostock, so it's not appropriate to issue a visa (to Bisultanov)," according to the Liberty Times.
"What a joke that the Taiwan government is interfering in international culture exchange and shunning a Chechen poet, when Taiwan and Chechenya share the same fate," Hong Kong noted, meaning that Taiwan and Chechen are both fighting for independence, so Taiwan should support the region's cause.
Poet Cheng Chou-yu, who was scheduled to hold a dialogue with Bisultanov before an audience, said the incident has brought shame to Taiwan's democracy because "no civilized country in the world is allowed to block exchanges between poets."
Liao Hsien-hao, director of the Taipei city government's Department of Cultural Affairs, expressed regret that Morejon and Bisultanov could not enter Taiwan.
"It's difficult for Taiwan readers to meet Cuban and Chechen poets. It's really a pity they cannot come," he told the Liberty Times.
The Taipei Poetry Festival is held by the city's government to promote poetry through a series of activities including poetry readings, discussions, students' poetry camp, film screenings, photo exhibitions and dialogues between poets.
Source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur
http://www.kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2006/11/04/6250.shtml
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