EVENTS

Taiwanese memory culture and politics has been a highly contested field in which historical interpretation, political identity, and democratic legitimacy intersect. Since the end of Martial Law in 1987, public engagement with the island’s authoritarian past has intensified, culminating in particularly visible struggles over the commemoration of the February 28 Incident and the beginning of the Second Sino–Japanese War. They reveal how collective remembrance functions not merely as historical reflection, but as a political practice shaped by competing narratives regarding Taiwan’s past, sovereignty, and international positioning. Since 2017, these dynamics have further evolved through institutionalised efforts at transitional justice. The establishment of the Transitional Justice Commission marked a significant attempt to address historical injustices of the Kuomintang (KMT) rule through the opening up of archival sources, the removal of authoritarian symbols, and the rehabilitation of victims. At the same time, some argue that these initiatives have been politicised, facing resistance from opposition parties and sparking debate over the appropriate scope and direction of historical reckoning. Memory politics in Taiwan are also influenced by external narratives, particularly from the People’s Republic of China and Japan, which further complicate domestic debates over wartime history and colonial legacies. Cultural institutions, public museums, and annual commemorations, especially those related to the Second World War, and the 228 Incident, and the ensuing White Terror, continue to serve as focal points for negotiating collective identity. This Wednesday Seminar analyses Taiwan’s memory culture and illustrates how democratic societies grapple with contested pasts, demonstrating that struggles over remembrance are inseparable from broader questions of national identity and political legitimacy.

Speaker

Simon Preker studied Sinology and History in Freiburg and Kunming. He subsequently completed a German–Japanese double master’s program at the University of Halle-Wittenberg and Keio University in Tokyo, funded by the German Academic Scholarship Foundation and the Robert Bosch Foundation. Both theses examined Deng Xiaoping’s 1978 visit to Japan. His doctoral degree from the University of Hamburg focused on the public diplomacy of the Republic of China in Nazi Germany (1936–1941). His research included extended stays at Fudan University and National Taiwan University. Alongside his academic work, he was active as a journalist and interpreter as well as a bicycle tour guide across East and Southeast Asia. In 2019, he joined the German Federal Foreign Office, first as policy officer in Berlin in the HQ’s China Division. From 2022 to 2025, he served as Consul at the German Consulate General in São Paulo.

Chair

Hemant Adlakha is Vice-Chairperson and Honorary Fellow at the ICS, Delhi. He was professor of Chinese at the Centre for Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies, JNU, New Delhi. His areas of research include political discourse in the PRC and modern Chinese Literature and Culture. He is on the editorial board of China Report.

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