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Two halves only sometimes make a whole

Respected Sinologist Rudolf Wagner, far right, will discuss the German experience of unification at tomorrow's Taipei Salon. Photo: courtesy of Lung Ying-tai Cultural Foundation

The topic of unification continues to plague Taiwan's political parties, people and press. With the 17th anniversary of German unification quickly approaching, the Lung Yingtai Cultural Foundation (龍應台文化基金會) has invited Rudolf Wagner, a professor at Heidelberg University, to discuss the German experience of unification.

The lecture is titled German Unification: Popular Culture, Maoist Students, and the Socialist Disneyland, and will be held tomorrow at Zhongshan Hall.

Though Wagner will speak about German unification, he is no stranger to the cross-strait dilemma and Asian affairs. As one of Europe's foremost Sinologists, Wagner has done extensive research on Buddhism, Taoist philosophy and contemporary Chinese politics and the media.

He coined the term "calculated over-reaction" to describe China's unexpected tirades against Germany for supporting human rights in Tibet, and the US for granting a visa to former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) visit to his alma mater, Cornell, in 1996 as a means of extracting concessions out of the world powers.

Performance notes What: Taipei Salon (台北沙龍), German Unification: Popular Culture, Maoist Students and the Socialist Disneyland Where: Zhongshan Hall (台北市中山堂), 98 Yenping S Rd, Taipei (台北市延平南路98號) When: Tomorrow from 2pm to 5pm Details: Lectures are conducted in English with simultaneous interpretation in Chinese; admission is free but those attending must pre-register by phoning (02) 3322-4907, or logging onto www.civictaipei.org

Wagner's lecture will begin with a discussion on a concert held in 1976 by legendary West German singer-songwriter, Wolf Biermann, who expressed support for unification - an event that served as a catalyst for the eventual joining of East and West Germany. He will then go on to probe the complex issue of unification across the political divide while drawing on references from debates and events in popular culture.

Wagner has taught at the Free University of Berlin and is the director of the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Heidelberg, as well as a visiting scholar at Harvard University's Fairbank Center for East Asian Research. In 1992, Wagner was awarded the Leibniz prize and between 1996 and 1998, he served as the president of the European Association of Chinese Studies.

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