Sociopolitical

French representative talks Taiwan-France ties

Olivier Richard, director of the French Office in Taipei, describes relations between Taiwan and France as healthy and significant. (Staff photo/Chen Mei-ling)

• Publication Date：03/18/2012
• Source： Taiwan Today
• By  Rachel Chan

Despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations, Taiwan and France have developed strong ties over the years, enjoying close exchanges in the fields of culture, education and science and technology.

“Relations between France and Taiwan’s civic societies are of exceptionally high quality,” said Olivier Richard, director of the French Office in Taipei, during a Feb. 29 interview with Taiwan Today. “We have very broad and intensive exchanges with Taiwan, something we would like to continue working on.”

Richard, who boasts a first-rate diplomatic track record and a comprehensive understanding of Taiwan affairs, took over from Patrick Bonneville as France’s de facto ambassador to the ROC in November last year. He was deputy director of the office from 1996 to 1999, and served as France’s special representative to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and ambassador to Malawi and Zambia between 2010 and 2011.

The healthy state of Taipei-Paris relations is illustrated by Taiwan’s standing as a top French cultural partner in Asia. Each year sees the staging of 15 to 17 performances and exhibitions, as well as 10 to 15 creative projects, according to the director.

Against this backdrop, Richard, whose family is from the southeastern French city of Avignon—a mecca for tourism and culture—said he is keen to take bilateral ties to new heights by increasing the quality and depth of exchanges in collaborative arts, education and scientific projects.

“If we can do that, then this is really the highest level of cooperation,” he said. “These are the kind of relations we have with European countries or North American countries.”

An exciting development the director sees as playing a key role in achieving this goal is the use of coproduction as opposed to cocreation when organizing cultural projects. The approach allows for greater interaction between both sides, extending beyond the mechanics of performance to complex areas such as financing.

“We currently have about three of these projects every year, and each takes two to four years to produce,” Richard said.

One example is “Yogee Ti,” a tie-up between Taiwan fashion designer Johan Ku and acclaimed French choreographer Mourad Merzouki. The show, which ran March 2-4 at the National Theater in Taipei City, attracted rave reviews and will be performed at the Montpellier Dance Festival and Lyon Biennale de Danse in France later this year.

Another valuable platform for staging art productions and cultural exhibitions, the director said, is the long-term partnership between his office, the Council for Cultural Affairs and private organizations. In addition to enriching Taiwan’s arts sphere, the triumvirate makes considerable behind-the-scenes contributions such as sending promising industry participants to France for two-week cultural study tours, he added.

But Taiwan-French cultural exchanges do not take place solely in darkened theaters and softly lit galleries. The sound of Richard’s mother tongue is increasingly heard in the island’s high schools, making it the most popular foreign language, along with Japanese, after English.

Taking great pride in this development, the director believes it will help seal the success of the new National Taichung Library’s French Corner—the largest of its kind in Asia. Set to open in June, the corner’s information on studying in France and cultural, linguistic and literary titles are expected to attract visitors islandwide.

The new National Taichung Library stands ready to open in June with the largest French corner in Asia. (Courtesy of National Taichung Library)

Bolstering cooperation in publishing is also a priority for Richard, who said French companies comprised the largest contingent at this year’s Taipei International Book Exhibition. The six day-event, which wrapped up Feb. 6, saw a record 600,000 showgoers peruse the catalogues of 746 publishers from home and abroad.

The director, who praised organizers for their handling of the fair, said it could be even better in 2013 if the attendance of additional mainland Chinese firms was secured. French publishers want to grow their businesses on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, he added.

As Taiwan prepares to enter a new era of cultural development following the upgrading of the Council for Cultural Affairs to ministry status May 20, Richard said the island can look to France and its experience in using cultural heritage to influence the Western World.

“Officials have to decide what aspects of culture they want to promote and how this will be achieved,” he said. “But government involvement remains an indispensible factor.”

France is the first country in the world to have a cultural ministry, with the French Academy responsible for setting national language standards since the 17th century, the director said. “Equally important, dialogue between the government and cultural world has been crucial in establishing the right balance.”

While Taiwan can learn from France in managing its cultural industry, Richard said, such lessons are better understood if there is a broad range of shared understandings and values upon which to base them. He feels that education plays an important part in forging this direction, with the joint diploma initiative enabling Taiwan students to receive two master degrees after studying the first two years in France and final one in Taiwan worthy of special mention.

“The program has great potential but very few students have pursued this option since it was launched in 2002. This is something I plan to change.”

When it comes to science and technology, the director is bullish on the extensive collaboration taking place between Taiwan and France’s national organizations, private laboratories and individual researchers. “The cooperation is so excellent already that improving is more in quality than in numbers,” he said.

A dancer in “Yogee Ti,” a production choreographed by France’s acclaimed Mourad Merzouki, sports sculpture-like chunky knitwear made by Taiwan fashion designer Johan Ku. (Courtesy of Michel Cavalca)

Similar sentiment extends to small and medium French enterprises operating in Taiwan, Richard said, many of which are partnering with local companies and basing production in mainland China.

The director views this practice as in keeping with the government of Taiwan’s policy that the island is an unbeatable location for international firms to benefit from warming Taipei-Beijing ties.

“Our logic is to leave cross-strait relations for the two sides to decide,” he said. “Once they have decided on something, then we can look at what we can do.”

On the all-important subject of bilateral trade, the director admitted there is room for improvement. Last year, annual trade was 4.2 billion euros (US$5.5 billion), down 1.1 percent from 2010. This result makes France the 20th largest importer of Taiwan goods and 21st biggest exporter to the island.

Although corporate France maintains a strong presence in Taiwan, Richard said this is not so much about the local market as being in the right place to take advantage of opportunities presented by the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA). The most recent count reveals 150 French companies in Taiwan, including big names such as Alcatel-Lucent, BNP Paribas, Carrefour and European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., better known as Airbus parent EADS.

In the same vein as trade ties, the director hopes for further progress in the Taiwan-France working holiday agreement. The long-awaited program is moving at a snail’s pace, he said, mainly due to the French government-initiated general review on security and migration regulations, which will not be completed before the presidential and legislative elections from April to June.

But Richard does not see any problems out of the ordinary with the pact: “Taiwan is definitely not a sensitive area. The question is how we can address the matter for it to fit our legal framework.” (JSM)

Write to Rachel Chan at rachelchan@mail.gio.gov.tw