
From Diplomat to Storyteller: shedding light on an unseen corner of Taiwan's history
Taiwan Talk
00:00
Did You Find Anything That Resonated With You as a Frenchman in Taiwan?
I found a number of documents which came as shocking to me as a Frenchman. For example, the accounts written by French mercenaries working for the Dutch East India company at the beginning of the 17th century. And generally speaking, you will find over these three centuries that the French who are writing about Taiwan all have a common mindset of colonialism and feeling of European superiority. But it's not all about shock and difficulty to swallow the people's mindsets in the past. Sometimes you also find characters which give you hope that not everything is lost in humanity. I think it's quite interesting, even if it's difficult and sometimes uncomfortable, it's quite important to be confronted with these prime resources.
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