The Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium held an online signing ceremony on December 18 for a cooperation agreement between KADOC (Documentation and Research Centre on Religion, Culture and Society) of KU Leuven in Belgium and the National Central Library of Taiwan.
The collaboration stems from Ambassador Roy Chun Lee’s visit to KADOC on May 6 this year, where he was welcomed by Bart Raymaekers, President of KADOC's Scientific Committee. During this visit, KADOC Director Kim Christiaens and Archive Manager Benoit Desmaricaux presented the institution’s history and work, including historical artifacts related to Lu Zhengxiang, the first Foreign Minister of the Republic of China. The two sides also discussed the historical religious connections between Taiwan and Belgium, and expressed hopes for future cooperation on the preservation of historical artifacts and academic research.
Following this initial meeting on June 12, the Taipei Representative Office arranged an online meeting between the National Central Library and KADOC. After discussions, both parties subsequently agreed to collaborate on sharing ancient book resources, with KADOC agreeing to provide bibliographic data of its Chinese ancient book collection to the National Central Library to be included in its “Database of the Union Catalog of Chinese Rare Books” for public access. In return, the National Central Library will grant KADOC access to the database’s online image printing function within a designated IP domain.
During today’s signing ceremony, Ambassador Lee began by congratulating both sides on initiating formal cooperation and highlighting the many similarities shared by Taiwan and Belgium. He also stated that he looks forward to more opportunities for exchange and visits between the two parties in the future. In his remarks, President Raymaekers explained that KADOC is one of Belgium’s leading cultural heritage institutions, noting its role in preserving a vast collection of Belgian archival data and historical documents, including significant Chinese historical holdings.
This collaboration will open up further exchanges, he said, before agreeing that both countries share many similarities, which offers the potential for even more cooperation. In further remarks, Director Han-Ching Wang of the National Central Library noted that the “Database Of the Union Catalog of Chinese Rare Books” currently includes 194 partner institutions, and emphasized that this collaboration marks an important milestone in sharing resources and protecting cultural knowledge.
Following the signing, both parties will exchange signed copies of the agreement. KADOC also extended an invitation to our Office and the National Central Library to visit their newly renovated chapel, which will be completed next year. Both sides further agreed to pursue more substantial exchanges in the future.
