On a late summer evening in downtown Vancouver, the music of the Indigenous Taiwanese band Kanatal (ga-na-DAL) echoes among the buildings. It is the opening of Taiwanfest, an annual event in the city, drawing local and provincial politicians among throngs of attendees.
This year’s theme is “Independence,” with three days of workshops, speeches, films and performances exploring life in Taiwan, making the island relevant in Canada, and what Taiwanese independence means at a time of heightened Chinese threats and aggressive actions across the Taiwan Strait.
Charlie Wu, organizer of the festival, estimated in-person and virtual festival attendance at 160,000 this year, with particular attention paid to the event’s theme.
“We're trying to call upon everyone to really think about the word independence, and what does that really mean," he said. "You know, every artist that we invited, there's a story about ... who they are, what, who they want ... who we're trying to be, and, and how they want to tell their own stories.”
Deep roots in the city
Like the United States and scores of other countries, Canada does not officially recognize Taiwan. Yet Taiwanese are deeply rooted in Vancouver, and the city sports a Taipei Economic and Cultural Office that performs duties similar to a foreign consulate.
Josephine Chiu-Duke, a professor of Chinese intellectual history at the University of British Columbia, immigrated to Canada from Taiwan in 1982. She says the local Taiwanese community stays in contact with family and friends back home.
How they view mainland China may vary, but she says they all resent Beijing continuously claiming Taiwan as China’s territory.
“And they, of course, resented (the) fact that China tried periodically to frighten Taiwan with this kind of a military maneuver or live ammunition practice surrounding the Taiwan Strait, and such as the recent episode they did when [U.S.] House Speaker Miss Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan,” she said.
Katrina Chen, who immigrated to Canada from Taichung, Taiwan, two decades ago, has twice been elected to British Columbia’s provincial legislature, representing a Vancouver area district. While focused on her duties and her constituency, she still checks in regularly with her parents in Taiwan, especially when China takes aggressive steps toward the island.
“I do talk to my family regularly. I am quite in touch with family members and relatives and friends in Taiwan," she said. "... I came here when I was 17, so I still have a lot of friends in Taiwan that I grew up with.”
Chen says she and other members of the Taiwanese community keep in touch using messaging applications that help bridge the nearly 10,000-kilometer span between Vancouver and the island on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean.
