On the global political chessboard, Taiwan’s international situation is often labeled as “difficult.” As interactions between Taiwan and other countries are obstructed by geopolitics, we have chosen another path: bringing diplomacy out of the conference rooms and into museums, film festivals, concert halls, and even online platforms. Wherever culture can foster dialogue, there you will find Taiwan’s diplomacy at work.
Why has Jiufen, formerly a prosperous gold-mining town that was later nearly abandoned, continued to attract so many tourists over recent decades? Is it the crowds of people brushing shoulders as they pass beneath the red lanterns that line its stepped streets? Or is it the poignant mood captured in Hou Hsiao-hsien’s film A City of Sadness? Or perhaps the sense of tranquility that comes from gazing at fishing-boat lights shimmering on the sea at night? The beauty of Jiufen is ever-changing, and if you ask a hundred people, you’ll hear a hundred answers.
