TKU student Zhang Wei-xiang recently took part in a contest held jointly by the EU Center in Taiwan and the EU Research Center, NCCU. The contest compared short-films composed by Taiwanese university students on topics related to the European Union. Wei-xiang claimed second place for his film, which displayed his extensive travels through Europe in 2008. He received a cash prize of NT $30,000 and a certificate. The Director of the TKU Graduate Institute of European Studies, Dr. Chin-ching Kuo, explained that Wei-xiang’s film demonstrated just how much Europe treasures the experiences and lessons learned from its history and how it uses these experiences to plan for the future. “That’s why his film gained the approval of the judges”.

Wei-xiang’s short film recorded a historical reenactment that he took part in while in Europe, which recreated the Battle of Normandy during WW2. Wei-xiang found that European citizens after WW2 chose not to simply forget the war, but instead to view history with a sense of maturity and to remember the pain. This attitude, Wei-xiang believes, served as the impetus for European integration in the 21st century.

His observation began to affect the way he viewed European unification. He stated “I made the film because I really admire their attitude toward their own history. I hoped to share this with others”.