【與大使有約—前盧森堡台北辦事處處長Hugues】採訪報導

Part One: Experiences in connecting Europe and Taiwan

Q: When did you arrive in Taiwan and what where your impressions after so many years?

A: I arrived in Taiwan in 1985 to take over the position of director at the Belgian office, succeeding my predecessor who had been in Taiwan already for a period of 30 years for a period of 20 years until 1965. These 20 years of experience have allowed me to see how much Taiwan, politically, changed from a one party system to a multiparty system under the inspiration and leadership of President Chiang Ching-Kuo and his successors.

In these years I witnessed how Taiwan's vibrant democracy evolved coped very well with several alternations of the ruling power and the ruling parties, Taiwan having played a leading and exemplary role on the Chinese political scene.

At the same time, I have witnessed a fast and substantial growth and development of Taiwan's economy in the 80s and 90s, reaching today a very well diversified manufacturing, agricultural and service industries platform, together with a strong diversification in its overseas markets with a better balancing of its trading partners such as Japan, the United States, China, and most importantly a very strong growth of the trade relationships between Taiwan and Europe.

Q: When you retired from the Belgian Office, why did you stay in Taiwan?

A: When I retired from the position of managing the Belgian office, I became a volunteer guide in the national Palace Museum of Taipei, guiding foreign tours groups in several European languages, French, German, Dutch through the centuries of artistic production of China. This represented for me a unique opportunity to learn more about the past history of Chinese artistic production, but also provided great pleasure to explain and answer the questions which were asked by foreign visitors interested in Chinese culture.

Also I married in Taiwan, giving me an additional reason to continue to learn more through my family and in-laws.

Q: After retiring from the Belgian Office we learned that you opened a new Trade Office in Taipei. Please explain.

A: When in 1969 I decided to resume my trade promotion activities by opening, with the help of the ministry of economic affairs of Luxembourg, the Luxembourg Trade Office in Taipei, which I have now led since its opening for more than six years. It not only allowed me to better evaluate how a smaller sized nation as Luxembourg, with half a million population, could find substantial interests in dealing with Taiwan economically, culturally, financially, culturally, etc.

Q: I heard you were also active in promoting European involvement in Taiwan?

A: Indeed, when I came here in the 1985 Europe was essentially present in Taiwan through a few large Dutch, Phillips, British trading companies and German chemical giants. Also the many European missionaries which came to Taiwan after having left China in the 1950s. In the late 80s I was instrumental to launch the concept of a European Chamber of Commerce which finally emerged in the early 90s and became today a powerful Association of the many European companies active on the Taiwanese economic scene. I also witnessed the interest of Taiwan for the European institutions followed the by the opening some years ago of a fully-fledged European office in Taipei. All these made me very happy as a Belgian, which also is honored to have seen the European institutions, some of the most important once, settled in Brussels, my hometown.

Part Two: Personal aspects of living in Taiwan

Q: What more specifically attracted you during your time in Taiwan?

A: My interest for Taiwan covert such fields as Taiwanese literature, Taiwanese cinema, Taiwanese folklore and Taiwan’s folklore, handicrafts, modern art, architecture, interior design and housing declaration.

Q: What were your other hobbies during your stay on this island?

A: I also became very interested in the history of Taiwan, influenced by multiple contacts of faraway civilizations, it's first contacts with European settlers, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese traders who all left some their marks on the Taiwanese society. As a Dutch speaker I was very impressed to meet some of your learned people who studied Dutch only for the purpose of translating the old documents made up by the Dutch speaking of the VOC settlers in southern Taiwan. Of course I was also fascinated by Taiwan's handling of its relationship with its big neighbor, China, similarly as Luxembourg handled its relationship with its larger geographic, political and economic neighbors on the European continent. Taiwan's relationship with its bigger overseas neighbors provided me more insight on the present day Taiwanese society, heavily influenced by the continuous interest of this island population fall overseas cultures, influences, innovation, while at the same time constantly seeking to better understand, explore and grasp foreign things for which Taiwanese have constantly cultivated a strong curiosity.

Q: Did you have time to visit the many parts of the island?

A: Of course during my long term of duty in Taiwan I had the opportunity to visit many of the lesser-known places of the island, traveling often by airplane to Kaohsiung, at the time when every half hour an airplane was taking off and landing in the South, before the construction of the high-speed rail. Also I traveled much by car, or by car to visit some of the more isolated but fascinating mountain landscapes of the island, even experiences camping in some more remote areas. All this let me fully understand and justify the name “Formosa” given to the island by the Portuguese seafarers who in the 17th century passed along the coast of the island. Also as I was very much interested in the variety of religious expressions, denominations, Buddhist masters and magnificent temples, I took much time to indulge myself in the religious diversity of the Taiwanese population.