Uni-Tübingen

The European Research Center on Contemporary Taiwan - A CCK Foundation Overseas Center

Latest News and Announcements:

Weng Lu-Chung Will Present Reserach Project in the Taiwan Colloquium

Monday, December 9, 2024

Visiting Scholar Prof. Weng Lu-Chung 翁履中 from the Department of Political Science at Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, Texas) is going to present his research on “Strategic Reassurances and Deteriorating Ambiguity: Stabilizing the Taiwan Strait Détente” in the Taiwan Colloquium on Monday, December 9, at 4.15 p.m. in room no. 181 at Keplerstraße 2, 72074 Tübingen. 

To give an idea of what is behind this intriguing topic, Prof. Weng explains: 
This study scrutinizes the intricate dynamics within the Taiwan Strait, emphasizing the relationship between strategic reassurances and the diminishing scope of strategic ambiguity amidst escalating regional tensions.

Employing a multifaceted methodology that encompasses elite interviews and surveys, this research project takes three years (2021-2024) to collect and evaluate the viewpoints of foreign policy elites in Washington, Beijing, and Taipei. The results expose divergent elite perceptions regarding the authenticity and commitment to key policies such as Washington's One China policy, Beijing's One Country, Two Systems framework, and Taipei's preservation of the status quo. The research posits that the ongoing erosion of strategic ambiguity is driving a critical need for recalibrated reassurance strategies to avert misinterpretations that could potentially trigger conflict. By dissecting the imperative for distinct and reciprocal reassurances, the study highlights the pivotal role of both rhetorical and behavioral reassurances in securing the delicate détente in the Taiwan Strait. This investigation underscores the urgent necessity for a sophisticated reassurance approach, one that not only sustains the status quo but also precludes a slide into overt confrontation, thereby enriching the discourse on international relations and strategic stability in one of Asia’s most sensitive geopolitical arenas.

Additionally, the study introduces a historical exemplar termed the “Yizhou Dilemma,” centering on the disputed territory of Yizhou during the Three Kingdoms era (circa 184 to 280 A.D.). This example challenges the concept of the Thucydides Trap by presenting a scenario involving three key players: the hegemony, the rising power, and a vital but weaker third party crucial for the rising power’s ascent. Each party grapples with the dilemma that both taking action and refraining from it could result in undesirable consequences.

 

Weng Lu-Chung Held Public Lecture on the Yizhou Dilemma and Elite Perceptions

Prof. Weng Lu-Chung 翁履中 from the Department of Political Science at Sam Houston State University, in his capacity as an ERCCT Visiting Schholar, gave a public lecture titled "The Myth of War in the Taiwan Strait: Can Beijing, Taipei, and Washington solve the Yizhou Dilemma?" on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. In the lecture, which was based on a book that Prof. Weng recently published with his co-author Prof. Sun Taiyi, he compared the political structure of China during the period of the Three Kingdoms to the current relation between the U.S., the PRC, and Taiwan, before reporting on the result of elite interviews in each of the three. His talk was followed by a spirited discussion with the audience. 

18th Taiwan Documentary Film Festival: 13 - 14 December

Acclaimed documentary film maker and Golden Horse Award winner Tsai Tsung-Lung 蔡崇隆 is the invited guest director of the ERCCT's Taiwan Documentary Film Festival 2024, that will take place on December 13  to 14. Acclaimed documentary film maker and Golden Horse Award winner Tsai Tsung-Lung 蔡崇隆 is the invited guest director of the ERCCT's Taiwan Documentary Film Festival 2024, that will take place on December 13  to 14, at Kino Atelier. The festival programme this time centers on the issue of migrant workers in Taiwan, a topic that looms large in Tsai Tsung-Lung's work. The headliner of this year's festival thus is his film on the case of a Vietnamese migrant worker who got into trouble with the police: "Miles to Go Before I Sleep", distinguished 2022 by the most prestigious film award in the Chinese speaking world, the Golden Horse.

The programme in detail:

Friday, December 13, 2024

14:00 – 14:20 Opening ceremony 開幕儀式
14:20 – 15:30 See You, Lovable Strangers 再見可愛陌生人
15:30 – 15:40 Break 
15:40 – 16:00 Contextualising Talk by Dr. I.  Cockel (formerly, Isabelle Cheng)(Portsmouth)
16:00 – 17:30 And Miles to Go Before I Sleep 九槍   (Warning: contains images of physical violence!)
17:30 – 17:55 Discussion with Director Tsai Tsung-lung
17:55 – 18:15 Break and Free Pretzel 
18:15 – 20:00 Feature Film: The Abandoned 查無此心 (Tseng Ying-Ting)

Saturday, December 14, 2024

10:30 – 11:40  Out/ Marriage 失婚記
11:40 – 12:10 A Different Journey Home 尋鄉異旅 
12:10 – 14:00  Lunch break 午飯
14:00 – 14:45 Who cares? 長照喘息聲 
14:45 – 15:30 Discussion with Director Tsai Tsung-Lung
15:30     Closing Ceremony 閉幕儀式

All films are shown in Chinese with English subtitles.

The festival takes place at Kino Atelier, Vor dem Haagtor 1, 72070 Tübingen and starts on Friday, December 13, at 2 pm (14 Uhr).
Tickets for the five documentary films are 8,- EUR. 
Entrance to the feature film “The Abandoned” is free. 

The ERCCT is grateful for the generous support from the Taipei Representative Office in the FRG Munich branch office.

Dr. Sheu Jyh-shyang Visited the ERCCT for a Casual Chat on Problems of Taiwan Security

On Friday, November 15, 2024, Dr. Sheu Jyh-shyang from the Institute of National Defense and Security Research, Taipei, visited the ERCCT. As Dr. Sheu is an old friend of our center, where he stayed as a resident fellow during his Ph.D. years, his visit was a very nice opportunity to engage in a casual talk about problems of Taiwan's national security.

Our Latest Memorandum of Understanding

We are pleased to announce that the ERCCT has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Institute of European and American Studies at Academia Sinica, Taiwan. We look forward to a fruitful partnership ahead.

Dr. Di Qing Spoke on the Role of Traditional Chinese Culture in Taiwan

Dr. Qing Di, an independent scholar from Taipei, has arrived in Tübingen on October 18 in order to stay at the CCKF-ERCCT as a self-funded visiting fellow until November 15. On October 28, he gave a talk in the Taiwan Colloquium on the topic of “Does traditional Chinese culture matter for Taiwan’s future? — Exploring Little Tradition and Great Tradition in Taiwan: History, Legacy, Liability and Taiwan’s Predicament”, in which he made use of Redfield's dichotomous distinction between layers of cultural traditions and argued that also the so-called Great Tradition (in Redfield's terminology) of Chinese culture has added to Taiwan's soft power, as in the example of Lin Huai-mins's Cloud Gate Theatre. 

High ranking CCKF Delegation visited Tübingen

Friday, October 18, 2024, was a great day for the ERCCT.  The President of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, Prof. Chen Chun-I 陳純一, led a delegation of the Foundation to visit the University of Tübingen and our center. 
The delegation, which in addition to President Chen also consisted of CCKF policy advisor Prof. Angela Ki Che Liang 梁其姿 and Senior Executive Officer Claire Chan 詹語甄, was first received in the morning by the University of Tübingen's President and Vice-Chancelor Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. (Dôshisha) Karla Pollmann and Vice-President Prof. Dr. Monique Scheer. After an exchange of formal addresses, in the presence also of ERCCT Director Prof. Gunter Schubert, Co-Director Prof. Tseng Yu-chin, Managing Director Stefan Braig, President Chen and President Pollmann signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the continuation of support for and operation of the CCKF-ERCCT.  Coordinator of Exchange Programs with Asia at the university's International Office Mr. Franziska Waschek, and Dr. Cand. Philip Scherer form the Department of International Research Cooperation also joined the occasion. 
After a subsequent exchange of ideas with Prof. Scheer on international academic cooperation, the delegation then visited the premises of the ERCCT at Keplerstraße 2. Here President Chen, Prof. Angela Leung and Prof. Schubert discussed perspectives on the research funding landscape in Taiwan and Germany. 
Lunch was then kindly hosted by Vice-President Scheer, before the delegation went for a guided city tour through the historical city center of Tübingen, accompanied by Director Schubert and MD Stefan Braig. 
The program of the day concluded with a blitheful dinner at one of Tübingen's nicest restaurants, Historical Tavern "The Trout".


ERCCT Taiwan Colloquium

Winter Semester 2025

As the winter semester 2024-2025 is started on Oct. 14, we present the programme of the Taiwan Colloquium!

DateTimePresenter and Topic

Monday

Oct. 28

16 –18

Dr. Di Qing

Does traditional Chinese culture matter for Taiwan’s future? —Exploring Little Tradition and Great Tradition in Taiwan: History, Influence, Aesthetics, Global Significance and De-Sinicization

Wednesday
Dec. 4
12 –14

Prof. Weng Lu-Chung (Public Lecture)

The Myth of War in the Taiwan Strait: The Yizhou Dilemma and Elite Perceptions

Monday

Dec. 9

16 –18

Prof. Weng Lu-Chung

Strategic Reassurances and Deteriorating Ambiguity: Stabilizing the Taiwan Strait Détente

Monday
Jan. 27
16 –18Dr. Wang Anne-chie
Assembling Caringscape in End-of-life: Care Practices in Hospice Home Care
Dr. Yan Zhi-Jun
Urban Land Readjustment and Land Financing Networks in Local Finance: The Sale and Pre-Sale of Cost-Equivalent Land in Taichung
Monday
Feb. 3
16 –18Prof. Hsia Hsiao-chuan
From ‘Social Problems’ to ‘Social Assets’: Geopolitics, Discursive Shifts in Children of Southeast Asian Marriage Migrants, and Mother-Child Dyadic Citizenship in Taiwan

Wednesday

Feb. 5

12 –14  Prof. Hsia Hsiao-chuan (Public Lecture)
The Tug of War over Multiculturalism: a reflection on the politics of ethnicities and the dialectic process of empowering marriage migrants in Taiwan

Alexandre Gandil Reported on Opinion Leader Delegation to Taipei

On Monday, July 25, Short-Term Resident Fellow Dr. Alexandre Gandil from UBM, D2iA / Sciences Po, CERI, Paris, reported on the experience of taking part in the 2024 European Opinion Leaders Delegation. Dr. Gandil had been invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to visit Taipei as part of this delegation tour from June 16 to 21, 2024. In his report, which included opportunities to meet and talk to functionaries of Taiwanese governnment agencies, think tanks, political parties and EU funded institutions, Dr. Gandil summarized some main points of the talks held in Taipei, shared the impressions that some of the interlocutors made on him, and interestingly reflected on what may have been expected from delegation members by the Taiwan side - one of the points that was afterwards vividly discussed with the ERCCT fellows.

Taiwan Europe Connectivity Workshop 2024

From July 8 to 12, the ERCCT continued the Taiwan Europe Connectivity Workshop series by hosting 13 aspiring scholars from various institutions in Taiwan and Europe at the lovely university guest house for them to present and discuss their research projects among each other and with ERCCT Fellows. 
After warm welcoming remarks delivered by ERCCT Co-Director Prof. Tseng Yu-chin, Koh Hyemin  from the Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies at National Cheng Chi University gave the first presentation of the workshop, speaking on 'China's Cognitive Warfare and Taiwan's Elections in 2024'. Continuing this panel on Cross-Strait Relationswas Ku Ming-I from the International Doctoral Program in Asia-Pacific Studies at National Chengchi University with 'Impacts of China's Cognitive Warfare in the 2024 Taiwan Presidential Election and Taiwan's Response Strategies'. Sze Woon Miller from the Lau China Institute at King's College London the turned the focus from  cognitive warfare to Taiwan's mental readiness for actual warfare by introducing participants to her Ph.D. project on 'Taiwan's Civil Society and Military Transformation: How Taiwanese Identity and Culture Shape Understanding of the Security Threat'. Yet another perspective on Cross-Strait Relations, namely the one from Mando Pop studies was brought in by Liu Chang from the Heidelberg Center of Transcultural Studies. His presentation was titled 'Kris Phillips, A Twofold Narrative of Return', analysing the case of Fei Hsiang, a pop singer born to an american father and a mainlander Taiwanese mother, who became a big hit in the PRC in the late eighties. 
On Tuesday, July 9, Lee Shih-Min from the Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies at National Chengchi University opened the panel on Geopolitics and International Relations by delivering his presenation titled 'Analysis of Whether the CCP's Foreign Policy Represents Geopolitical Hegemony from 2010 to 2023: A Case Study of the South China Sea'. Klára Schwarzová from the Department of Asian Studies at Palacky University in Olomouc followed with 'An Assessment of Taiwan's Soft Power in the Czeck Republic: a Case Study'. Then, after using the opportunity of a sunshiny coffebreak to take a group photo, Fiodar Piacherski from the Graduate Institute of Taiwan History at National Chengchi University introduced the historical dimension to the panel, presenting on the 'Legal Implications of the Tuapse "Seizure": Understanding the Taiwan-Soviet Conflict within International Legal Frameworks'.
The programme on Wednesday, July 10, then featured two panels, one on IR Theory and one on Taiwan's Indigenous Peoples. Contributors to the first one were Dr Liu Hui-Chun 劉慧純 from the Centre of Taiwan Studies at SOAS pondering the question 'How Has Chinese Scholarship Constructed Chinese-characteristic International Relations Theory and Their Implications for International Order?' and Lin Yi-Hui from the Institute of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen, who spoke about 'Everyday Reproduction fo State Sovereignty in Taiwan'. Dr Agathe Lemaitre from the LISE (CNAM, CNRS) in Paris next opened the panel on Indigenous Peoples. Her topic was 'When categories dictate reality: Re-scaling the wildlife through the example of the Paiwan relationship with the extinct clouded leopard'. Lin Wan-Jou from the Deparmtent of Taiwan Cutlure, Languages and Literature at National Taiwan Normal University rounded the panel off, speaking about 'Decades of Relocation: Indigenous Women and Their Fight for Land Rights'. 
Sociological themes were then explored during the mornning of Thursday, July 11. Chang Ting-She from the Department of Sociology at National Taiwan University presented 'Channeling Prison Healthcare with Punishment and Rehabilitation: Care Practice and "Just" Care Infrastructures in Taiwanese Penal Institutions', followed by Dr Lu Meng-Tsung from the Institure of Sociology at Academia Sinica with 'How to Make an Elephant Dance? An Analysis of Taiwan's Implementation of Gender Mainstreaming from the Institutional Logics Perspective'.
Apart from the project presentations, the workshop also featured contributions from the side of the ERCCT itself. ERCCT Director Prof. Gunter Schubert introduced the center’s objectives and programmes on the afternoon of the first day. On Tuesday afternoon ( July 9) Ms. Paula Silvetti, an experienced city guide took the participants to a city tour centering on the history and the most picturesque historical buildings of Tübingen University and city. The following punting boat tour on the Neckar River provided for a very relaxed end of the day. ERCCT team members and fellows briefly presented their individual research projects on Wednesday afternoon. A group discussion on ‘Political Polarization in Taiwan’ showed exactly how Taiwan's democracy suffers from polarization. The social programme featured a visit to Hohenzollern Castle (July 11, afternoon) and to the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart on Friday, July 12, before the workshop was closed with a cheerful dinner at the Castle of Hohenentringen.

Visiting Fellow Lin Ya-Yin Presented Research on China's Cognitive Warfare

Visiting Fellow Lin Ya-Yin 林疋愔 from the Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies at National Chengchi University has presented her research project on 'The Typologies of China’s Cognitive Warfare: Data Analysis of Three Taiwan Strait Military Drill's 2022 – 2023' to ERCCT Fellows and other Ph.D. students from the Department of Chinese Studies in the Taiwan Colloquium on Monday, July 1. The presentation was followed by a vivid discussion about methodology and relevant concepts. 

Visiting Scholar Prof. Huang Yu-Ling Held Public Lecture

Prof. Huang Yu-Ling 黃于玲 from the Department of Humanities and Social Medicine at National Cheng Kung University gave a public lecture on 'A Sociological Analysis of Egg Donation Regulation and Experiences in Taiwan' on Wednesday, June 12. In her talk, Prof. Huang first informed about the state of regulation of oocyte donation in Taiwan, before then analyzing the relationship between egg donators, which are mostly young women below the age of 25, and the assisted reproductive treatment clinics, and the relationship between donors and recipient infertile couples, based on her fieldwork in Taiwan. 

Visiting Scholar Prof. Huang Yu-Ling Presented Research in Taiwan Colloquium

Prof. Huang Yu-Ling 黃于玲 from the Department of Humanities and Social Medicine at National Cheng Kung University presented her research project on the regulation of reproductive medicine in Taiwan to ERCCT Fellows in the Taiwan Colloquium on Monday, June 10, 2024. Her presentation was titled 'Gender, Culture, and Reproductive Medicine: Comparative Research of Regulatory Logics, Clinical Care, and (Non)Anonymity Donation of Assisted ReproductiveTechnologies' and went deep into analysing the logic behind the regulation of reproductive cell-donation in Taiwan in comparison to Germany.

Prof. Huang Yu-Ling to visit ERCCT and Present in the Taiwan Colloquium, Give Public Lecture

The ERCCT team is delighted about the visit of Prof. Huang Yu-Ling 黃于玲, a sociologist from the School of Medicine at National Cheng Kung University. Prof. Huang will visit the ERCCT from 7 June to 2 July. On Monday, 10 June, she will present her research project 'Gender, Culture, and Reproductive Medicine: Comparative Research of Regulatory Logics, Clinical Care, and (Non)Anonymity Donation of Assisted Reproductive Technologies' in the Taiwan Colloquium at 4.15 p.m. (room 1.81, Keplerstraße 2).

On Wednesday, 12 June, Prof. Huang will then give a public lecture titled 'A sociological analysis of gamete donation regulations and experiences in Taiwan' at 12.15 p.m. at the same venue. The talk will analyse how assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) are co-shaped with regulations, societal values, and human dignity that make diverse practices in different societies. Taiwan has one of the most rigorous regulations of third-party donation in the world, yet we know little about the donors’ knowledge and attitudes toward their donation laws, clinical practices, and the rights of donor-conceived children. And so, the ethical challenges of egg-donations are also to be discussed. 

Taiwan Colloquium with Alexandre Gandil and Liang Chia-Yu Held on June 3, 2024

June 3, 2024

On Monday, June 3, both of our current Short-Term Resident Fellows presented their research projects in the Taiwan Colloquium. 
Dr. Alexandre Gandil from D2iA at Bordeaux Montaigne University and also affiliated to the Centre de recherches internationales at Sciences Po, Paris, talked about 'Taiwan beyond its own Strait: Assessing Taipei’s sovereignty claims over the South China Sea from below' at 4 p.m., followed by Dr. Liang Chia-Yu  (梁家瑜) from the Department of International Relations, University of Sussex, who presented 'Status Sacer: to Propose an International Relations Theory from Taiwan's Structural Marginality'. Both presentations were followed by passionate discussions with and among the audience. 

Lorenzo Andolfatto Presented Research History of National Parks

On Monday, May 13, Dr. Lorenzo Andolfatto, Senior Researcher of the Human Georgaphy Research Unit at the Department of Geosciences at the Universtiy of Fribourg, came to Tübingen to present his latest research on the historoy of National Parks in Taiwan in the Taiwan Colloquium. His talk, titled 'In between Nature and the Nation: Defining National Parks in Taiwan, 1933-1972', was based on extensive archival research and delved into the history or employing national parks for nation building in Taiwan since the Japanese colonial era. Dr. Lee Kyonghee from the MPIWG in Berlin took over the role as a discussant and provided valuable feedback, upon which the Q&A also involved the wider audience. 

Tainan Area Research Grant - Call for Applications

The Cultural Affairs Bureau of Tainan City in cooperation with the International Center for Tainan Area Humanities and Social Sciences Research announce the Postgraduate Research Grant for the Study of the Tainan Region. Click here to learn more.

 

Kuo Chao-Hsuan Presented his Research on Child Rights Developments

Kuo Chao-Hsuan 郭兆軒 from the Department of Law at National Cheng Kung University, a participant in the ERCCT Visiting Fellow Programme from 20 January to 9 February, presented his doctoral research project 'The Child Rights in Taiwan's Parenting Law' in the Taiwan Colloquium of 1 February 2024. His talk focused on how children's rights are gradually developed and transformed through an increasing influence of public law, especially constitutional law, on the matter, which was traditionally a subject mainly of civil law. 

André Beckershoff Gave a Talk in the Taiwan Colloquium Co-hosted by IfP

Dr. André Beckershoff, ERCCT Associate Fellow, gave a talk titled 'The Dialectics of Hegemony and Resistance in the Re-Making of China-Taiwan Relations' in the Taiwan Colloquium on Wednesday, 31 January. This time the colloquium was co-hosted with the section of political econonomy of the Institute of Political Science's Prof. Hans-Jürgen Bieling. 
In his talk, Dr. Beckershoff applied a Gramscian analysis to make sense of the development of protest movements against the hegemonic project of Taiwan's economic and political opening vis-a-vis the PRC since the mid-2000s. The talk was based on his book  'Social Forces in the Re-Making of Cross-Strait Relations: Hegemony and Social Movements in Taiwan', which he published with Routledge in 2024. 

Prof. Lin Shu-Hui

Visiting Scholar Prof. Lin Shu-Hui 林淑慧 from the Department of Taiwan Culture, Languages and Literature at National Taiwan Normal University presented her current research project on "Cross-cultural Dynamics and Applications of Taiwan Travel Literature" in the Taiwan Colloquium on Thursday, 25 January. By introducing the work of contemporary authors like Dadelavan Ibau, Liu Shao-Hua, and  Syaman Rapongan Lin Shu-Hui showed how literature can serve as means to heal trauma and reconstruct identity. 

 

Lin Kai-Heng Presented His Research on Skill Formation in the Machine Industry

Visiting Fellow Dr. Lin Kai-Heng 林凱衡 from the Institute of Sociology at Academia Sinica has presented his current research project in the Taiwan Colloquium on Thursday, January 18. His intriguing presentation war titled "Crafting Black Hands: Institutional Changes and Social Networks in Skill Formation within Taiwan’s Machine Industry".

Prof. Lin Shu-Hui Held Public Lecture on Cold War Travelogue Literature

On Thursday, January 11, ERCCT Visiting Scholar Prof. Lin Shu-Hui 林淑慧 from the Department of Taiwan Culture, Languages, and Literature at National Taiwan Normal University, gave a public lecture titled "Discourses in Taiwan Travel Literature during the Cold War Era". Authors as Tseng Hsu-Pai, Chen Ji-Ying, Lin Hai-Yin, and Yin Hai-Kuang and the literature they made out of their visits to the US during the cold war featured prominently in this talk. 

Visiting Scholar Alex Tan Presented His Research in on Youth Voting in Taiwan

On Dec. 7, 2023, Prof. Alexander Tan from the Political Science Department at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, presented current research project "Taiwanese Youth Voting for Taiwan: Studying Identity Formation in Taiwanese Youth and its Impact on Voting Patterns in Taiwan" in the Taiwan Colloquium. 

The ERCCT's 17th Taiwan Documentary Film Festival

The 17th Taiwan Documentary Film Festival, unfolded at the Kino Arsenal cinema on December 1 and 2, 2023. Showcasing a collection of captivating documentaries by Golden-Horse-Award winner and guest director Huang Hsin-Yao 黄信堯, the festival drew cinema enthusiasts and scholars alike.
 The festival showcased four riveting documentaries by Huang Hsin-Yao, commencing on December 1 with screenings of "Dog with Man" and "Ali88." These films offered profound insights into contemporary Taiwanese society, exploring multifaceted narratives and societal nuances. On the same evening, audiences were treated to the thought-provoking feature film "The Great Buddha+," a highlight of the festival's lineup.
Alltogether, the festival featured the following works by Huang: 
"Dog with Man"
"Ali88"
"Bluffing"
"Taivalu"
"The Great Buddha+"
Renowned director Huang Hsin-Yao graced the festival as the guest director, bringing his unique perspective and expertise to the event. His presence added depth and resonance to the screenings, offering audiences a firsthand understanding of the creative process behind his compelling documentaries and feature film.
On the occasion, the ERCCT also received Dr. Dieu Ian-Tsing 趙彥清, Director General of the Taipei Representative Branch Office in the Federal Republic of Germany's Munich branch office. Dr. Dieu, who has also  generously sponsored the festival, delivered a warm and inspiring welcome speech, highlighting the cultural significance of the festival in fostering cross-cultural understanding through cinema.
The festival garnered substantial interest, drawing a diverse audience comprising film enthusiasts, scholars, and individuals eager to explore the rich tapestry of Taiwanese culture and society depicted in the documentaries. The interactive sessions following the screenings provided a platform for engaging discussions, allowing attendees to delve deeper into the thematic layers explored in each film.
The 17th Taiwan Documentary Film Festival, hosted by ERCCT at the University of Tübingen and held at the Kino Arsenal cinema, stood as a celebration of Taiwanese cinema and cultural exchange. Through the lens of Huang Hsin-Yao's evocative documentaries, the festival succeeded in fostering dialogue and appreciation for the multifaceted narratives embedded in Taiwanese society.
The event's success was a testament to the growing interest in Taiwanese cinema and its ability to bridge cultural gaps, offering a glimpse into the diverse and vibrant tapestry of Taiwanese life. This festival not only entertained but also enriched the audience's understanding of Taiwan's cultural heritage, leaving a lasting impact on all who attended.

Research on contentious intimacies in China and Taiwan funded as part of Excellence Strategy

A research project, titled 'Intimacy-Mobility-State Nexus in the Context of Democratic and Authoritarian States: A Case Study of China and Taiwan,' has been awarded over 0.3 million EUR for a 36-month duration, commencing in January 2024. The project is led by Jun.-Prof. Yu-chin Tseng 曾育勤, with Prof. Gunter Schubert serving as a co-investigator. This initiative extends Tseng's prior research into the realms of contentious intimacies and the reproduction experiences of guest workers, unmarried heterosexual women, and individuals from the LGBTQ+ community in both China and Taiwan. It is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science as part of the Excellence Strategy of the German Federal and State Governments.

The research team, based in Germany, France, UK, the Netherlands and Taiwan, aims to address the complexities of the intimacy-mobility-state nexus that has not received sufficient academic and public attention, particularly in East Asia. By exploring contentious issues in contemporary Chinese and Taiwanese societies—such as digital relationships, access to reproductive rights, dependence on migrants for the care of elders or children, informal networks of migrant workers, relocation for children’s education, and the adoption of alternative education practices as a consequence of migration—this project intends to demonstrate how intimacy and mobility mutually shape and reshape each other within two distinct socio-political contexts: authoritarian neoliberalism (China) and developmental state (Taiwan), respectively.

Congratulation to Prof. Chen Chun-I

The CCKF-ERCCT Team hereby wishes to compliment Professor Chun-I Chen on taking up the position of the President of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation in May 2023. Having met President Chen uring a dinner which the Foundation generously hosted in March, we are more than convinced that the Foundation is in good hands with him and look very much forward to continued cooperation.


Announcement: Taiwan Europe Connectivity Workshop 2023

The ERCCT will hold its second Taiwan Europe Connectivity Workshop, a workshop for emerging young scholars, i.e. Ph.D. students (3rd year and above) and postdocs, from 16 to 22 July, 2023. The main topic for this year’s workshop is "New leeway for Taiwan in the international arena?"

Other paper submissions pertaining to the fields of Taiwan politics, society, economics and cross-strait relations are highly welcome.

Travel expenses (up to 1,250 EUR) and accommodation will be fully covered by the CCKF-ERCCT. Successful applicants are requested to submit a research paper after the workshop for online publication in the CCKF-ERCCT Online Paper Series.  
For application, please send your CV and an outline of your research project (5-6 pages) until 15 March, 2023 to:

Stefan Braig, M.A.
ERCCT Managing Director

Mail: 

Download this announcement.


Taiwan Colloquium in Winter 2022/23

The programme of the winter semester 2022/23 Taiwan Colloquium is out now: 

Date

Time Speaker and Topic Venue
Nov. 17
Thursday
6 – 8 pm Karoline Buchner 
Of ‘Quiet Medical Revolutions’ and ‘Foreign Meddling’: Covering Chinese Medicine in Taiwan Panorama
Keplerstr. 2
Hörsaal (HS) 001
Nov. 24
Thursday 
 6 – 8 pm Prof. Ann Heylen
Featuring Formosa: Historical narration and semantic prosody in newspaper corpora  
 Keplerstr. 2
Hörsaal (HS) 001  
Dec. 15
Thursday
6 – 8 pm Dr. Jonathan Sullivan
Taiwan and the Future
Keplerstr. 2
Hörsaal (HS) 001
Dec. 19
Monday
4 – 6 pm Dr. Jonathan Sullivan
Ph.D. dialogue: Making your way in Asian Studies – From PhD to profession[s]

Keplerstr. 2

Room 003

Jan. 23
Monday
6 – 8 pm Prof. Wu Ying-Chu
Umwandlung der verfassungsrechtlichen Stellung der politischen Parteien in Taiwan – vom Verfassungsentwurf in Jahr 1936 bis zur Verfassungsauslegung Nr. 793 im Jahr 2020

Keplerstr. 2

Raum 1.81

Jan. 26
Thursday
6 – 8 pm

Prof. Wu Ying-Chu
Das Verhältnis zwischen politischen Parteien und Abgeordneten - Ausgehend vom Rotationsprinzip in Deutschland zur Überprüfung der Verfassungsauslegung Nr.311 in Taiwan

Keplerstr. 2
Hörsaal (HS) 001
Feb. 2
Thursday
6 – 8 pm Cheng Ting-wen
The impact of Virtual exchanges on promoting the integration and development of the Cross-Strait: An Example of Cross-Strait Youth Student Online Exchange Activities
Keplerstr. 2
Hörsaal (HS) 001
Feb. 6
Monday
6 – 8 pm  Dr. Chen Teng-hsiang
The Transboundary Mission of Chinese Buddhist Organization Fo Guang Shan from Taiwan to Germany

Keplerstr. 2

Raum 1.81

Feb. 9
Thursday
 
6 – 8 pm Prof. Dr. Gunter Schubert
The Taiwan predicament revisited: National identity and the China threat
Keplerstr. 2
Hörsaal (HS) 001

 


EATS Conference 2023

Call for Papers for the 20the Annnual Conference of the European Association of Taiwan Studies

26-28 June 2023 at SOAS, London

Taiwan Studies in Twenty Years: Retrospect, Prospect
26-28 June 2023
Centre of Taiwan Studies
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London


For the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS), the 2023 EATS conference comes back to its ‘birthplace’ – SOAS, University of London – to celebrate, examine, reflect and encourage the development of Taiwan Studies as a growing academic field.
The growth of Taiwan studies in Europe is a success story from zero to one. The past twenty years have witnessed an amazing endeavour of ploughing the barren land, sowing the seeds, taking roots, and leading to the eventual boom. The Association was established at SOAS in 2004 to develop Taiwan Studies not only in the UK but also in other European countries. To launch the Association, the first-ever Taiwan Studies conference in Europe took place at SOAS on 17 and 18 April 2004. Over the last two decades, the Association has become institutionalised and the research on Taiwan in Europe has also blossomed under the collective endeavour of EATS members and the leadership of the EATS Board and Secretary Generals.
To review the past achievement and examine the prospect and future of Taiwan Studies in Europe, the 2023 EATS conference welcomes a broad range of contributions to topics related to Taiwan. In other words, the 2023 EATS conference invites submissions from all disciplines and especially welcomes innovative and interdisciplinary papers. Suggested, but not exclusive, topics of interest include:

  • Party politics and the emerging trend
  • Change, social movement and political activism
  • Indigenous rights and settler-colonial legacy
  • Migration, diversity, and ethnic relations
  • History, (re)remembering, and forgetting
  • Development and environmental dilemma
  • Cultural representation and identity
  • Literature and positioning
  • Global conflicts and civil society tension
  • Transnational activism and globalisation
  • The semiconductor industry and national security
  • Popular culture, tourism, and cultural industries
  • Gender politics, LGBTQ+ and marriage
  • Diplomacy and statehood
  • Everyday life and identity
  • Transitional justice and human rights
  • Education and ideology construction  Digital revolution and mass media  Taiwan Cinema
  • Visual cultures: comics, MV and advertise
  • Arts and performance

Submission
* Regular panels
Please submit your abstract to http://www.conftool.net/eats2023 by 6 November 2022. Please note that you will have to create a user account first. One applicant may submit one abstract only. Applicants sending submissions for the Young Scholar Award are not allowed to send submissions for regular panels.
* MA panels
EATS welcomes submissions from students currently enrolled in MA programmes. MA panels are not restricted to the theme of the conference, although they should be relevant to the broadly defined field of Taiwan Studies. Please submit your abstract to http://www.conftool.net/eats2023 by 31 December 2022. Please note that you will have to create a user account first. One applicant may submit one abstract only. Applicants sending submissions for the Young Scholar Award are not allowed to send submissions for regular panels.
Review and acceptance
After a double-blind review process, EATS will announce the successful submissions around 28 February 2023, but we will strive to announce the results earlier. Accepted postgraduate presenters (PhD and MA students) who are affiliated with European institutions, or who are the 2023 Young Scholar Award finalists, will receive a travel grant of €150.

The 2022 Taiwan Studies Young Scholar Award (YSA)

European Association of Taiwan Studies
The 2022 Taiwan Studies Young Scholar Award (YSA)


Deadline: 28 February 2023


The 2023 Taiwan Studies Young Scholar Award (YSA) is open to applicants who are currently enrolled on a Master’s degree or PhD programme, or who are within three years of having submitted their PhD dissertation but are not currently in a full-time lectureship. Papers should correspond to Taiwan Studies in Twenty Years: Retrospect, Prospect, the theme of the 20th Annual Conference of the European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS). Please see the call for papers for the 20th annual EATS conference for details on the conference theme. Applicants must currently hold a valid 2022 EATS membership when participating in this contest. EATS board members are ineligible to apply.
Styling
Papers should be written in English, single-authored and 7,000–9,000 words long. The word count should include a 250-word abstract, footnotes and a bibliography/references. Applicants should use Times New Roman, size 12, 1.5 spacing and APA referencing for styling the paper.
Submission
Please submit your papers to http://www.conftool.net/eats2023 by 28 February 2023. Please note that you will have to create a user account first. Candidates may submit papers that are under review for publication in a scholarly journal at the time of the 2023 EATS conference. Each applicant may submit only one paper. Submissions for the YSA will not be considered as submissions to the 2023 EATS conference. Please follow the guidelines of the 2023 EATS call for papers to submit abstracts to the 20th EATS conference.
Evaluation
Submissions will be evaluated according to their relevance to the field, originality, clarity of methodology, quality of presentation and respect for quotation rules. After a double-blind external review process, the EATS board will nominate by 30 April 2023 no more than three finalists. The finalists will be invited to present their papers at the 20th annual EATS conference hosted by the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London on 26-28 June 2023. At the conference, the finalists will be further evaluated for their oral presentations for the final determination of the competition result.


Award
The final results will be announced at the closing ceremony of the 2023 EATS conference. Each prize winner will be presented with an official certificate and a monetary award.

Funding
YSA finalists will receive a partial reimbursement for travel and/or accommodation during the conference as per EATS conference regulations. Absence from the EATS conference will be considered as withdrawal from the competition.

Step-by-Step submission guide

 Please find here the downloadable step-by-step submission guide.


Dr. Leon Kunz presented his research to ERCCT Fellows

As this summer's first Taiwan Colloquium speaker, Dr. Leon Kunz from the Center for Taiwan Studies at the University of Texas at Austin presented his current project "Space, leadership, and organization: Comparing the Sunflower and Umbrella movements" on Monday, 27 June 2022. His presentation was followed by vivid discussion with ERCCT fellows, and we are looking forward to seeing the publication of the article coming out of this research. 


Welcoming Ms. Yu Ssu-Han as Visiting Fellow

The ERCCT team is happy to welcome Ms. Yu Ssu-Han 游絲涵 from the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science as our first Visiting Fellow in the summer semester 2022. Ms. Yu will stay at the ERCCT until July 25 and present her doctoral research project  "Mediating democratic politics: Generational understanding of democracy and identification with Taiwan" during the Taiwan Europe Connectivity Workshop in July. 

We wish her a successful and pleasant stay in Tübingen!


COAST Call for Chapter Contributions: Taiwan As Ocean

The Centre of Austronesian Studies is pleased to announce the call for chapters for an edited book, Taiwan As Ocean. For detail information about the scope and topics of this edited book, please see the attached pdf file or visit the ISAP UCLan website: [CALL FOR CHAPTERS] Taiwan as Ocean - Institute for the Study of the Asia Pacific (isapuclan.org.uk)

For proposal submission or any queries, please contact Dr Ti-han Chang at tchang2@uclan.ac.uk

Schedule for submissions:

  • Proposal Submission Deadline: 31 October 2022
  • Acceptance Notice: 15 December 2022
  • Full Paper Submission Deadline: 30 May 2023

Visiting Fellow Dr. Huang Wei-Hao Opened the Taiwan Colloquium 2022

Dr. Huang Wei-Hao 黄韋豪 from the Institute of Political Science at National Sun Yat-sen University presented his research on the influence of China's strategic bilateral partnerships on Taiwan's external relations under the title "Expanding China’s Partnerships Networks: How China Factors Affect Taiwan’s Bilateral Relations with Other Countries? " to ERCCT fellows in the first session of the Taiwan Colloquium in 2022 on Monday, 17 January.

Dr. Marinaccio Presented Her Research Project on Taiwan's Emigrant Electorate

Dr. Julia Marinaccio from the Department of Foreign Languages (Chinese Studies) at the University of Bergen, Norway, war our guest speaker in the Taiwan Colloquium of Monday, 17 May 2021. Dr Marinaccio intrigued the audience with a presentation of her current research project on the consequences of Taiwan's lack of an absentee voting system ("The Taiwanese emigrant electorate: Studying transnational political mobilization in the context of cross-strait relations"), exploring the cases of Taiwanese in Austria and on the chinese mainland. 

Here is the talk recording.


Visit to Partner Institutions at National Sun Yat-Sen University

On May 3rd, Prof. Gunter Schubert, ERCCT director, visited the Department of Sociology and the Institute of Political Science at National Zhongshan University in Kaohsiung, which are long-term ERCCT partner institutions. He held a talk and gave an ERCCT work report to faculty and students. Prof. Schubert, who has been in Taiwan since early March, also visited other ERCCT partners and briefed them on the ERCCT's activities under the current conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

More pictures from the event


"Taiwan's Green Parties" - Dafydd Fell Presented His New Book on Alternative Politics in Taiwan in the Taiwan Colloquium

We are glad to have had our friend Dr Dafydd Fell from the Center for Taiwan Studies at SOAS presenting his new book "Taiwan's Green Parties: Alternative Politics in Taiwan" in the opening session of the summer semester 2021 ERCCT Taiwan Colloquium on Monday, May 10, 2021! It was a very lively presentation, made all the more interesting as the author not only described the research methodoloyg and content of his book but also shared his personal motivation and connections to the field and talked about his related plans for the future. 

Here is the talk recording


IJTS Research Article Competition, 2021

The International Journal of Taiwan Studies is pleased to announce the 2021 IJTS Research Article Competition. Since its launch in 2018, IJTS (ISSN: 2468-8800, https://brill.com/view/journals/ijts/ijts-overview.xml) has established itself as a principal outlet for the dissemination of cutting-edge research on Taiwan. IJTS is the first internationally collaborative, multidisciplinary, and peer-reviewed academic research journal in English dedicated to all aspects of Taiwan studies, including social sciences, arts and humanities, and topics which are interdisciplinary in nature. To continue the development of Taiwan studies and with the financial support of the European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS), we announce a call for papers for the 2021 IJTS Research Article Competition. There are three categories of articles for entry:

•    Arts and Humanities
•    Social Sciences
•    Indigenous Studies

Each research article can only be entered in one category. IJTS Executive Editorial Board members and IJTS Advisory Board members are not eligible to enter the Competition. 

For further details see the announcement PDF!
 

The Taiwan Colloquium in the Summer Semester 2021

A Transnational Outlook on Cross-Strait Studies: Case Studies and New Research Approaches

The ERCCT colloquium continues to introduce the latest research on contemporary Taiwan to explore various themes, this time however, uniting contributions under the research perspective of a transnational outlook on cross-strait studies
The colloquium is again organized as a luncheon seminar with presentations. It is an online event that takes place on Mondays (with one exception) from 12.30 to 13.45. Speakers will talk for 20-30 minutes, followed by 30-40 minutes Q&A.

For details of the programme see the Taiwan Colloquium section of this website! 

Please register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ercct-taiwan-colloquium-summer-2021-tickets-152525753635


New Resident Fellow: Judy Lee

We are very happy to welcome Ms. Judy Lee 李爾雅 to Tübingen as a new ERCCT Resident Fellow. Judy has just arrived in town a few days ago and she will start working on her Ph.D. project about how contact tracing as a measure of epidemic control might affect perceptions of democratic governance during the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. 

The ERCCT team wishes her a good start and a successful time in Tübingen!


Feb. 22 - Tseng Hsun-Hui

In the final session of the Taiwan Colloquium of the winter semester 2020-2021, Prof. Tseng Hsun-Hui 曾薰慧 from the Department of Taiwan Literature at National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, talked about her research project on Vietnamese mariage migrants engaged in Taiwan's sex entertainment industry and the ways in which they come to terms with being mothers and sex-workers at the same time. The presentation, based on longterm field research, was titled "Motherhood and Moral Economy: The Art of Negotiation of Marriage Migrants Engaged in the Sex Entertainment Industry in Taiwan".


Postgraduate Research Grant for the Study of the Tainan Region

The International Center for Tainan Area Humanities and Social Sciences Research awards a Postgraduate Research Grant for the Study of the Tainan Region, 2021, to M.A. or Ph.D. candidates in humanities or social sciences working on a porject related to Tainan. 

Please view the guideline documents in english or chinese for further details. 


Prof. Zhan Min-xu Held Talk on Imaginations of "the South" in Contemporary Taiwanese Literature in Taiwan Colloquium

Prof. Zhan Min-xu  詹閩旭 from the Graduate Institute of Taiwan Literature and Transnational Cultural Studies at National Chung Hsing University (Taichung) made a very interesting contribution to the Taiwan Colloquium with his talk "Taiwan Literature from a Southern Perspective" on Monday, February 1, 2021. In his talk, Prof. Zhan gave interesting insights into the motivation of contemporary writers to spell out their imaginations of the Global South. 


Lee Po-Han gave talk on Taiwan in regard to epidemiological (inter)nationalism

Prof. Lee Po-Han 李柏翰 from the Global Health Programme of National Taiwan University's College of Public Health gave a talk in the Taiwan Colloquium on Monday, January 18, 2021. Speaking on the topic of "Solidarity with whom? Repositioning Taiwan beyond the WHO's epidemiological (inter)nationalism", Prof. Lee first introduced the post-WWII international pandemic response regime with a particular focus on the International Health Regulations of 2005 and then discussed the multiple positions of Taiwan / the Republic of China in this context.



The Taiwan Colloquium in the Winter 2020/2021

The Covid-19 pandemic has shaken the world with unforeseeable speed and dimension since the beginning of 2020. Amid the pandemic, we have come to realize the significance and urgency of understanding Taiwan from social, political and historical perspectives more than ever. Against this background, the ERCCT colloquium continues to introduce the latest research on contemporary Taiwan to explore various themes, such as aboriginal peoples, global mobility, and literature.
This colloquium is organized as a luncheon seminar with presentations. It is an online event that takes place on Mondays from 12.30 to 13.45. Speakers will talk for 20-30 minutes, followed by 30-40 minutes Q&A.

For details of the programme see the Taiwan Colloquium section of this website! 

Please register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ercct-colloquium-tickets-127309061831


Taiwan Colloq. on Musical Journeys of Luo Dayu and Teresa Teng

On Monday, December 14, Ass. Prof. Cheng Chen Ching 鄭楨慶 from the Department of Journalism and Communication at Chu Hai College of Higher Education, Hong Kong, made a most interesting contribution to the Taiwan Collquium in presenting his research on the specifics of Teresa Teng'S and Lo Da-yu's musical development in the larger context of the cold war and post-cold war eras and chinese national identities. 


Dec. 7 - Zhu Yifei

On Monday, December 7, Mr. Zhu Yifei 朱奕飛  from the  Graduate School of East Asian Studies at Freie Universität Berlin presented his Ph.D. research project in the Taiwan Colloquium. His presentation was titled "Developmentalism Across the Strait: An Institutionalist Explanation of Taiwan’s Economic Policy toward China between 1990 and 2016" and lively discussed by the audience.

 

 


TAITRA Has Launched Website Offering Resources to Fight Covid-19

Under the headline "We're in this Fight Together", the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA)  has launched a Taiwan Global Anti-Covid-19 Pavillion, a websiteoffering information on Taiwan's anti-Covid-19 resources in English, which can be found at https://www.anti-covid-19.tw 

For more information, please download the following documents: 
Introduction_Taiwan_Global_Anti-COVID-19_Pavilion
News_Release_Taiwan_Global_Anti-COVID-19_Pavilion

 


The 18th Annual Conference of the European Association of Taiwan Studies

Our friends at the European Association of Taiwan Studies annonce that the 18th EATS Annual Conference is now open for abstract submission. The conference is held on 15-17 April 2021 at Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. The theme of the conference is 'Taiwan in Transition'.The 2021 Young Scholar Award is also open for submission. The deadline for both submissions is 15 September 2020. The call for papers for the conference can be found here and the YSA announcement can be found here. Please click here for the submission form for regular panels and YSA competition and here for submission form for MA panels.  


Short-Term Resident Fellow Progam 2020-2021 Open for Applications

Applications to the Short-Term Resident Fellow Programme, November 2020 to March 2021 period, are now accepted until August 15, 2020! Under this programme, we welcome Ph.D. or postdoc researchers to join the CCKF-ERCCT for a period of between three and six months and grant them a monthly stipend of 350 EUR plus a 500 EUR travel grant, as the pandemic situation is under control in Tübingen and south-western Germany.

For more information on the programme please refer to the Short-Term Resident Fellow Programme Section of this website and see the announcement or write an e-mail to 


Applications welcome for the Visiting Fellow Programme of the winter semester 2020-21

Ph.D students or postdortoral fellows from our Taiwanese partner insitutions interested in the Visiting Fellow Programme, please note that the ERCCT now accepts applications for the coming winter semester. 

For information on the programme please see the Visiting Fellow Programme section of this website or see this announcement


Taiwanese Films and Expert Talk: Taiwan, Then and Now

On Wednesday, June 24, 2020, the ERCCT, in cooperation with China Centrum Tübingen (CCT), hosted an online talk and discussion with Chris Berry, professor of film studies at King's College London. Entitled "Modernity, Gender, Sexuality: Social Values in Taiyupian", the talk referred to two Taiwanese movies that are part of the project on taiyupian  台語片, "Taiwan's Lost Commercial Cinema" (by film scholars Prof. Berry and Dr. Ming-Yeh Rawnsley). One was "Foolish Bride, Naive Bridegroom" 三八新娘憨女婿, a comedy from 1967 by Xin Qi, and the second, "Like Father, Like Daughter" 前世情人的情人, was a modern sequel to the first. Both films have been available to registered users to be viewed online for four days prior to the event.