With China’s rapid economic development, the Chinese government is beginning to learn the significance of “soft power.” A Chinese leader once said that one important task in building the nation’s soft power is cross-cultural communications and exchanges aimed at strengthening the attraction and influence of Chinese culture.
A prime example of the importance the Chinese government puts in this is the establishment of Confucius Institutes. The Confucius Institute is a non-profit educational and cultural organization aimed at promoting the Chinese language and culture. It falls under the Office of Chinese Language Council International, also called Hanban, and is headquartered in Beijing.
In late 2004, the first Confucius Institute was established in Seoul. Hanban has now set up 328 Confucius Institutes in collaboration with universities around the world. The US has 53 institutes and four Confucius Schools, making it an important pillar in the popularization of the Chinese language and culture. Hanban aims to establish 500 Confucius Institutes worldwide by next year.
In 2002, while the Chinese government was planning to establish the institutes, the Taipei Theater and Taipei Art Gallery in the Rockefeller Building in New York City quietly closed down because their budget was slashed.
The theater and gallery were established in 1991. During those years, the New York Times commended them as windows on Eastern and Western culture and arts. As an important overseas cultural pillar, the theater and gallery organized a wide array of Taiwanese artistic and cultural activities and were praised by audiences and critics alike. Anyone visiting these two venues would gain a better understanding of Taiwanese culture.
In addition, the Times often ran commentaries about the two institutes. The efficacy of promoting Taiwan through the Times can’t be bought for money.
Moreover, the theater and gallery served as a platform through which Taiwanese artists could communicate with artists from other countries.
After they closed down, Taiwanese artists could only exhibit their works at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts or private theaters and galleries. But such places are expensive to rent and they set strict requirements for the groups that perform there.
Nowadays, it is extremely difficult for Taiwanese artists to perform in New York. The Times rarely covers Taiwanese artistic and cultural activities.
How much strength does Taiwan have? We often see in newspapers that China tries to block Taiwan’s diplomatic efforts and that Taiwan’s president is inconvenienced. Even Taiwanese athletes receive unfair treatment at international sports events. These issues are already well known.
A dozen years ago, I had an opportunity to talk to some children in the US. When I told them I came from Taiwan, some asked me if Taiwan was Thailand. Taiwan’s economy is stronger than Thailand’s, but ironically, American children have heard of Thailand, not Taiwan.
When people do not know about or understand your country, it is a waste of time to talk to them about soft or hard power.
The closure of Taipei Theater and Taipei Art Gallery was a great mistake. The government should hire experts to re-evaluate this decision. If the theater and gallery are found to have been indispensable in promoting Taiwan, the government should take advantage of the lackluster real estate market in New York to revive them.
Yeh Chingwen is chief executive of the Zeng Xian Cultural Foundation.
TRANSLATED BY TED YANG
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
On April 19, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) gave a public speech, his first in about 17 years. During the address at the Ketagalan Institute in Taipei, Chen’s words were vague and his tone was sour. He said that democracy should not be used as an echo chamber for a single politician, that people must be tolerant of other views, that the president should not act as a dictator and that the judiciary should not get involved in politics. He then went on to say that others with different opinions should not be criticized as “XX fellow travelers,” in reference to
RSS