Video launch projects view of nation's colonial history

A VCD account of Taiwan under Japanese colonial rule was released in Tainan yesterday by the Lien Chentung Foundation as part of its plan to depict the country's history through images.

The project is based on the book, The General History of Taiwan (台灣通史) written in the 1920s by historian Lien Heng (連橫).

Lien Heng's book is regarded by many modern historians to be propaganda which overemphasizes Taiwan's historical links with China.

Not coincidentally, the author is the grandfather of KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰). The video was produced by Arlene Hui-hsin Lien (連惠心), the foundation's executive and Lien Chan's daughter.

Lien the lead man on the KMT's joint presidential ticket with PFP leader James Soong (宋楚瑜).

Southern Taiwan, especially Tainan, is generally regarded as pan-green stronghold that supports Taiwan independence.

So the launch of the VCD in Tainan at this time had some observers calling it an attempt to highlight Lien Chan's "localization" image and woo southern support in the run-up to next year's presidential election.

The publishers downplayed the connection.

"I don't care how other people think and how they may want to, through political eyes, associate the occasion with the presidential election campaign," said Arlene Lien when asked to comment on the timing of the project's release.

"As a descendant of historian Lien Heng, I merely want to put in my own effort in explaining the island's history and help others gain knowledge about Taiwan's history," she said.

Put by a group of historians and specialists funded by the foundation, the 50-minute long VCD focuses on Taiwan's history under Japanese colonial rule (1895-1945).

The VCD is the third digital documentary produced by the foundation and follows its two earlier projects focusing on Taiwan's history in the Dutch colonial period (1624-1662) and the period of immigration from China during the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911).

Arlene Lien said she chose Tainan as the stage for the digital documentary's debut because "the city was the island's last fortress in Taiwan's resistance against Japan's aggression."

"The fall of Tainan started the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan," Arlene Lien said. "It is therefore meaningful to hold the release of the VCD in Tainan."

Aside the VCD release yesterday, Lien Chan, along with his wife Lien Fang Yu (連方瑀), also took advantage of his stay in Tainan to pay his respects to his ancestors. He also visited with local officials and supporters and toured local temples and historic sites.

In what is seen as an obvious bid to raise his visibility in the southern Taiwan, Lien Chan is slated to revisit Tainan, his hometown, on Monday for a two-day visit, during which he is scheduled to visit local officials and as well as representatives of local fishing and agricultural industries.