TAINAN, Taiwan – A gathering at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan on Saturday highlighted the role of cultural exchange in bolstering ties between Taiwan and Vietnam, even as official diplomatic channels face constraints. The event, held on Taiwan’s Poetry Day, commemorated the life and operate of Ong Iok-lim, a Taiwanese poet and prosecutor killed during the 1947 February 28 Incident.
More than a dozen Taiwanese writers and five Vietnamese scholars participated in discussions focused on Taiwan’s history and culture, featuring poetry readings in Taiwanese Hokkien and Vietnamese. Chiung Wi-vun, director of the Center for Vietnamese Studies at NCKU, emphasized the importance of these exchanges, stating they foster connections independent of official pressures. “Nongovernmental diplomacy is essential as official exchanges often face pressure from China, while civil-level cultural activities allow participants to speak about Taiwan more freely,” he told CNA.
Chiung founded the Association for Taiwanese and Vietnamese Cultural Exchange in 2009, recognizing a gap in engagement beyond trade. Since then, the association has facilitated visits, seminars and workshops for writers, scholars, and students. Efforts have also focused on translation, bringing Taiwanese works into Vietnamese and modern Vietnamese literature into Mandarin and Taiwanese Hokkien.
The exchanges have garnered attention within Vietnam. Poet Trần Đăng Khoa has written about his experiences in Taiwan, introducing the island to a wider Vietnamese audience, according to Chiung.
Kiều Bích Hậu, representing the Vietnam Writers’ Association at the event, noted a resonance between Taiwan’s White Terror period – a period of political repression lasting from 1949 to 1992 – and Vietnam’s own colonial past. Inspired by the story of Taiwanese Hokkien poet Lin Tsung-yuan, who continued to write in his native language despite restrictions during the authoritarian era, Kiều composed a poem titled “White Terror” as a tribute. “While I previously knew Taiwan mainly as a travel destination, literary exchanges had helped me better understand the island’s history and its people’s pursuit of democracy and freedom,” she told CNA.
Ong Iok-tek, a scholar of the Southern Min language family and a leader in the early Taiwan independence movement, was the brother of Ong Iok-lim. He spent much of his life in Japan after fleeing Taiwan in 1949 following the death of his brother and fearing for his own safety under the Kuomintang regime, according to biographical information from Wikipedia.
