[ad_1]
In the early 1950s in Taiwan, 19-year-old Tsai Kun-lin was arrested and imprisoned after joining a book club. The young man spent more than a decade on Green Island, building the prison that kept him as a political enemy of authoritarian rulers who would keep Taiwan under martial law until 1987.
Decades later, 90-year-old Tsai lives in Taiwan’s thriving democracy, but says a book club has once again become an act of resistance.
This month, the publisher and activist, along with exiled Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee, will address the Katthveli book club, exploring political activism, free speech and democracy in Hong Kong and Taiwan, two locations. under the extraordinary threat of an increasingly belligerent People’s Republic. China.
Tsai tells The Guardian that she agreed to join Katthveli because “there were once people in Taiwan who risked their lives to read books and seek the truth.”
“Especially when Hong Kong faces persecution from China and Taiwan is threatened by China. It is important to advise young people what kind of books they should read. “
Participants from all over the world can join together via Jitsi, an encrypted communication application that does not require a login. Users are sent a link and advised to use false names if they have personal safety concerns, says festival curator Aephie Chen.
The move for the online club, an initiative of the Taiwan Film Festival in the UK, was deemed necessary given the themes and the expectation that it would likely be monitored by Chinese authorities. In Hong Kong, discussing issues like independence and activism is possibly illegal now, and security measures reflect the growing threat to advocates for democracy.
In the past 18 months, Hong Kong has changed dramatically, rocked by pro-democracy protests and the ensuing crackdown by Beijing with a national security law (NSL) that has, in effect, banned dissent. The crackdown was supported by the Hong Kong government, and since then more than 10,000 people, mostly young people, have been arrested, and dozens of them are under the command of the NSL. At least 2,300 have been indicted on a variety of protest-related charges. Advocating for independence or protesting against the government is now largely illegal, and sensitive books have been pulled from the shelves.
Taiwan has become a haven for a small but growing number of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, and President Tsai Ing-wen promised “necessary assistance” to the people there earlier this year.
‘You will understand why China is China today’
Beijing insists it will “unify” with Taiwan, which it considers a rogue province of China, although the Taiwanese government resists. “Taiwan lived through the White Terror before it entered this new peaceful era today,” says Tsai. “However, since Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, I am more pessimistic [about Hong Kong]. “
There are mutual lessons for the two places as Hong Kong moves away from semi-autonomy toward tight control of Beijing, while Taiwan leaves its period of martial law further and further behind.
Film festival curator Aephie Chen says she sees the persecution of Tsai happening again with Hong Kong’s youth. “Every generation has to reinvent … the concept of freedom,” he said.
Chen, the daughter of an environmental father who was forced to leave Taiwan during martial law, has seen the crackdown in Hong Kong with horror and then sadness as the world begins to lose interest. She felt compelled to share her story and how Taiwan could help, but said adding a Hong Kong film to the festival lineup would not do it justice. The book club was born to explore the history of danger in both places, giving people the time and space to read and investigate.
Chen invited Lam Wing-kee to speak with the club. The 64-year-old Hong Kong bookseller was kidnapped and detained by Chinese authorities in 2015 for selling banned books on the mainland, and has lived in Taiwan in self-imposed exile since last year. Lam told The Guardian that it was important “to dig into these clubs to get the full context of the problem, not just the surface.”
He chose seven books for discussion, including titles on the history of the Chinese government, the Jewish diaspora, and the cultural influence of the Chinese Communist Party in Taiwan.
“It is important to understand the history and culture of all this so that you understand why China is China today,” he said.
The book club will launch on December 1 with an interview with Lam. Tsai will speak on December 12. The Taiwan Film Festival in the UK runs from November 28 to December 12 and features socially distanced film screenings and online movies, live Q&A, short films, live music, dance and spoken word performances. .
