A key figure behind Taiwan-Vietnam literary exchanges said he hopes mutual understanding can be reinforced through "people-to-people diplomacy," as Taiwan marked Taiwanese Poetry Day on Saturday with an event promoting literary dialogue.
Taiwanese Poetry Day was established to commemorate the death of Ong Iok-lim (王育霖), a Tainan-born poet and prosecutor who was killed during the 228 Incident in 1947. This year's event was held along with the Taiwan-Vietnam Literary Festival at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan.
The gathering brought together more than a dozen Taiwanese writers and five Vietnamese academics to discuss Taiwan's history and culture, and featured poetry readings in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) and Vietnamese.
Photo courtesy of Chiung Wi-vun via CNA
Such interactions help foster closer ties outside official channels, Chiung Wi-vun (蔣為文), director of the Center for Vietnamese Studies at NCKU, said in a telephone interview.
Non-governmental diplomacy is essential because official exchanges often face pressure from China, while civil-level cultural activities allow participants to speak about Taiwan more freely, he said.
Chiung said that he helped establish the Association for Taiwanese and Vietnamese Cultural Exchange in 2009 after observing that exchanges between the two sides largely focused on trade, with limited opportunities for deeper cultural engagement.
Since then, writers, academics and students have taken part in visits, seminars and workshops, while native Taiwanese works have been translated into Vietnamese and modern Vietnamese literature has been translated into Mandarin and Hoklo, he said.
The exchanges have also drawn attention in Vietnam.
Poet Tran Dang Khoa has written about his experiences in Taiwan, helping introduce the nation to a wider Vietnamese audience, Chiung said.
Among the visiting writers at this year's event was Kieu Bich Hau of the Vietnam Writers' Association.
She said that learning about Taiwan's White Terror period — an era of political repression from 1949 to 1992 — resonated with Vietnam's own colonial history.
After hearing about poet Lin Tsung-yuan (林宗源), who insisted on writing in Hoklo despite restrictions during the authoritarian era, Kieu said she wrote a poem titled White Terror in tribute.
While she previously knew Taiwan mainly as a travel destination, literary exchanges helped her better understand its history and its people's pursuit of democracy and freedom, she said.
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