Worlding Taiwan-China Relations: Film Screening of "Our Youth in Taiwan" and Q&A Discussion

The year 2021 marks the tenth anniversary of Taiwan’s introduction of degree-pursuing Mainland Chinese students (lusheng) to its higher education institutions. However, this landmark moment also witnesses the demise of lusheng policies across the Taiwan Strait. China’s Ministry of Education has suspended lusheng enrollment in Taiwanese colleges beginning this fall. How might we address the shifting political economy which shapes and contests lusheng policies? How have the lived experiences of lusheng brought new meanings to the geopolitical terrains under which these policies came into being? In what ways have the recent COVID-19 pandemic intensified the political and personal conundrums facing lusheng? This film screening and Q&A event seeks to understand the mounting geopolitical tension between Taiwan and China by directing focus on the stories of lusheng in Taiwan.  

 

Discussant's bio:

 

Michelle Cho is an assistant professor of East Asian Popular Cultures in the Department of East Asian Studies, and graduate faculty in Cinema Studies, University of Toronto. Her research interests include East Asian cinema, television, video, and pop music, genre cinemas, social media platforms, and Korean-wave pop culture fandoms.  

 

 

FILM SYNOPSIS:  Our Youth In Taiwan (dir. Fu Yue) is a story of resistance, collaboration, and frustration between three protagonists: Cai Boyi, a politically engaged mainland Chinese student in Taiwan; Chen Wei-ting, a student leader of Taiwan's Sunflower Movement; and Fu Yue, the documentary filmmaker. As their interwoven narratives unfold, the meanings of democracy, national belonging, social movement, political engagement, sexuality, and even filmmaking are called into question.   

 

The film won the Best Documentary at the 2018 Taipei Golden Horse Awards. In her award acceptance speech, director Fu Yue advocated for the recognition of Taiwan as an “independent entity.”   

 

Based in the Global Taiwan Studies Program at the Asian Institute, University of Toronto, The Taiwan Gazette is a student-run online platform that aims to introduce Chinese-language sources about Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China to a wider readership across the English-speaking world. It also features Taiwan-related student research and introduces scholarly works which approach Taiwan in critical perspectives and methods.

 

FILM SCREENING: March 8 (12 pm) to March 14 (11:59 pm EST)  

***To receive the link for the film screening, please register on the Eventbrite below***