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The opening ceremony of the Taiwan Research Centre at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) was held yesterday (11 April), officiated by Prof. Joseph J.Y. Sung, Vice-Chancellor of CUHK; Prof. Ambrose King, former Vice-Chancellor and Emeritus Professor of Sociology of CUHK; and Mr. Fredric Mao, Convenor of the Hong Kong-Taiwan Cultural Cooperation Committee. Prof. Joseph Lee, Vice-President of Taiwan Central University; Prof. Leung Yuen-sang, Dean of Arts, Prof. Hsiung Ping-chen, Director of the Research Institute for the Humanities, and Prof. Desmond Hui, Director of the Taiwan Research Centre, also joined the officiating guests to unveil a commemorative plaque of the centre.  There were about 50 guests joining the ceremony, including both local and overseas scholars of Taiwan studies, Taiwanese residents in Hong Kong, members of the HK-Taiwan Cultural Cooperation Committee, figures from the cultural, business and political sectors as well as academic members and students from CUHK.

Prof. Joseph J.Y. Sung, Vice-Chancellor of CUHK, said at the opening ceremony, ‘CUHK has a long history and close connection with Taiwan.  Many former and current academic members at CUHK come from Taiwan or have Taiwan connections. Apart from the Hong Kong-Taiwan Business Co-operation Committee and the Hong Kong-Taiwan Cultural Co-operation Committee, Hong Kong and Taiwan have respectively set up the Hong Kong-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Co-operation and Promotion Council and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council to discuss public policies and promote collaboration in trade, investment, tourism, cultural and creative industries between Hong Kong and Taiwan.  At present, only a few international academic institutions have set up Taiwan studies or research centres, including the London University School of Oriental and African Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara and San Diego, Tokyo University and the European Research Centre on Contemporary Taiwan at Tübingen University.  The Taiwan Research Centre at CUHK will join these organizations to promote Taiwan studies and to foster collaboration with institutions in Taiwan for academic and cultural cooperation.’

Mr. Fredric Mao, Convenor of the Hong Kong-Taiwan Cultural Cooperation Committee, congratulated CUHK on the establishment of the Taiwan Research Centre.  He believed that there would be many exchange and collaboration opportunities between his committee and the Centre.  Prof. Desmond Hui, Director of the Taiwan Research Centre, introduced the aims and objectives of the Centre, including the establishment of research themes and projects on Taiwan; organizing workshops, seminars and conferences; supporting researchers, scholars and students from Hong Kong and Taiwan; coordination with the counterpart institutions from Taiwan and dissemination of research activities and results to the public.  Professor Hui said that CUHK has established a solid foundation in the arts and the humanities which has linkage to Taiwan since its early days, and research and scholarship on New Confucianism have also been increasingly influential in Hong Kong, the Mainland and Taiwan.  Current research topics and the forthcoming agenda of the Centre will include HK-Taiwan literature, history, philosophy, cultural and film studies.  Areas in cultural management, cultural heritage conservation, urban regeneration, cultural development policy and cultural creative industries will also be developed and cultivated for bilateral research and collaboration in future.

The first academic event of the Centre, the ‘Taiwan Film and Culture Symposium’, took place immediately after the opening ceremony with Prof. Leo Lee, Sin Wai Kin Professor of Chinese Culture, CUHK, as the moderator.  Speakers included Prof. Michelle Bloom from the University of California, Riverside; Prof. Liao Hsien-hao from Taiwan University (former Director of the Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs); and Prof. Lin Wen-chi from Central University.  Extracts from a number of Taiwan films were shown during the symposium, including Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Flight of the Red Balloon, Flowers of Shanghai, Tsai Ming-liang’s What Time is it There?, Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution and Cheng Yu-chieh’s Yang Yang.