International Center for Cultural Studies

側記｜放映與討論：鏈結

2024-09-23

放映與討論：鏈結

活動名稱｜放映與討論：鏈結

日期｜ 2024年9月23日（一）

地點｜陽明交通大學光復校區人社二館 HB326 室

導演｜致穎、莫奴

活動連結｜https://iccs.chss.nycu.edu.tw/zh/activity.php?USN=1508

活動相片｜https://iccs.chss.nycu.edu.tw/zh/album.php?USN=306

主持人｜Tu Huynh (Associated Researcher, Global South Studies Center, University of Cologne)

舉辦人｜台灣非中研究網絡贊助舉辦，國立陽明交通大學文化研究國際中心、德國科隆大學社會不平等研究中心協辦

所屬子計畫｜遷移、不平等公民、批判法律研究 & 大中國體系中社會區域間的地緣政治和文化經濟

子計畫主持人｜劉紀蕙教授、邱羽凡副教授、陳奕麟教授

The Link is a short documentary directed by Musquiqui Chihying and Lou Mo. It explores the connections between migration, slavery, forced labor, extraction, and control techniques in the Global South, with a particular focus on Mauritius. The film also highlights the ties between the 19th century Western colonial period, and 21st century China's "World Digital Brain" ambitions, as pursued by Chinese multinational corporations through submarine cable connections.

As a starting point, the film takes the audience to Aapravasi Ghat in the district of Port Louis. This site witnessed the British government's use of cheap labor to replace slaves after the abolition of slavery. It served as an entry point where migrant laborers were profiled and photographed. They were checked individually and quarantined. Aapravasi Ghat was a place of control for migrant labor. This same mechanism is reflected in China’s “World Digital Brain” and its smart cities today.

“Making Mauritius a Smart Paradise for All” is a smart city campaign led by the Chinese company Huawei, which provides technology and services. The directors emphasized that just as the 19th-century British government used photography as a modern technology to profile and control migrant labor, today, similar camera ideologies are used to gather data and create algorithms for control. This information is transmitted through submarine cables; as Chihying stated, “Whoever controls the submarine cables will control the world.”

The film also traced migration history and uncovered the presence of Hakka people who had settled in Mauritius during the 19th century. However, not all Chinese migrants were brought by the British to work as coolies on plantations, and some came themselves as merchants in search of fortune.

The director, Musquiqui Chihying, stated that the film is in its preliminary stage and that he and Lou Mo will continue their project. This film was produced in collaboration with the DGAP (German Council on Foreign Relations), the Rongxing Hakka Opera Troupe in Taiwan, and Aapravasi Ghat, the Museum of Coolie History in Mauritius.

This showing was sponsored by the Africa-China Research Network in Taiwan in cooperation with the International Center for Cultural Studies (NYCU) and the Social Inequalities Research Unit at the University of Cologne.