Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) on Monday presented six French academics with the Ministry of Culture’s first cultural medal for contributions to research or promotion of Taiwan’s culture.
The ministry also presents an annual cultural awards ceremony, which it has jointly held with the Institut de France’s Academy of Moral and Political Sciences since 1996. The ceremony on July 1 last year recognized radio presenter Miao Yung-hua’s (繆詠華) contributions to French literature through her translations to Chinese; contributions to theater by German theater director Lukas Hemleb, who has combined French theater and Taiwanese opera; and French anthropologist Josiane Cauquelin, who researches the Puyuma language, rituals and society.
Exchanges with France are invaluable for Taiwan at a time when it is seeking international support, not only because of its importance within the EU, but also because the French language is so widely spoken. At least 40 countries and regions use French as an official language, among them Canada’s Quebec province with 7 million speakers, Belgium with 4 million speakers, Switzerland with 2 million speakers and numerous countries in Africa and the South Pacific.
More than half of the world’s French speakers are in Africa, where China has made headway politically and militarily. In the Pacific, where China has poached allies from Taiwan, there are French speakers in New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and Wallis and Futuna. If Taiwan were to increase cultural exchanges with these territories as well, it could help turn the tide of influence in its favor.
France might also be seeking to improve its relationship with Taiwan for strategic purposes, given its interest in the Asia-Pacific region and China’s encroachment in the South Pacific and the South China Sea. In April last year, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense lambasted France for “illegally entering Chinese waters” when it sent a warship through the Taiwan Strait on a freedom of navigation exercise. China also canceled France’s participation in a naval parade planned for the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy.
An article published on April 27 last year by The Diplomat online news magazine questioned China’s reaction to what was a routine French naval exercise. It suggested that China was lashing out over “Paris’ growing interest in supporting the United States, Japan and other regional powers concerned about China in the Indo-Pacific more broadly.” France, like the UK, was interested in committing more resources to the region and Europe as a whole was likely to be more confrontational with China, it said.
Of course, all of this bodes well for Taiwan, and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should communicate to France that Taiwan is ready to cooperate with it in any conceivable way.
In December 2017, Tsai praised France, saying that it is “a leader in industrial and scientific fields, especially in aerospace and green energy technology, and is a key force driving the world forward.” She called on France to support Taiwan’s bid to be part of the Paris Agreement and to participate in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Then-French Office in Taipei director Benoit Guidee in July 2018 called Taiwan “an important partner of France in Asia,” and “a platform for French development in the region.” Guidee is now stationed in Shanghai, and it is unknown whether he represented sentiment in Paris when he made the remarks, but Tsai should probe France’s intentions for its relationship with Taiwan and see how her administration can facilitate any goals that are aligned with Taiwan’s interests.
Paris cut ties with Taipei in 1964, at the time feeling relieved that it no longer had to carry on with a “two Chinas” policy that it had reluctantly upheld. However, the global political landscape is changing, and Taiwan must capitalize on it.
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