Taiwan-Vietnam literary exchanges foster people's diplomacy

Hanoi, March 16 (CNA) A key figure behind Taiwan-Vietnam literary exchanges said Saturday he hopes mutual understanding can be strengthened through "people-to-people diplomacy," as Taiwan marked the March 14 Taiwanese Poetry Day with an event promoting literary dialogue.

This year's event was held at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan, in commemoration of Ong Iok-lim (王育霖), a Tainan-born poet and prosecutor who was killed during the 228 Incident of 1947.

The gathering brought together more than a dozen Taiwanese writers and five Vietnamese scholars to discuss Taiwan's history and culture, and featured poetry readings in Taiwanese Hokkien and Vietnamese.

Chiung Wi-vun (蔣為文), director of the Center for Vietnamese Studies at NCKU, told CNA in a phone interview that such interactions help foster closer ties beyond official channels.

Nongovernmental 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.

According to Chiung, 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, scholars 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 rendered into Mandarin and Taiwanese Hokkien, he said.

The exchanges have also drawn attention in Vietnam. Chiung noted that poet Trần Đăng Khoa has written about his experiences in Taiwan, helping introduce the island to a wider Vietnamese audience.

Among the visiting writers at this year's event was Kiều Bích Hậu of the Vietnam Writers' Association. She said 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 Taiwanese Hokkien despite restrictions during the authoritarian era, Kiều said she wrote a poem titled "White Terror" in tribute.

She told CNA that while she previously knew Taiwan mainly as a travel destination, literary exchanges had helped her better understand the island's history and its people's pursuit of democracy and freedom.