Increasingly outgunned, outmaneuvered and outspent by China on the world stage, Taiwan is increasingly turning to its "soft power" arsenal, to which the Ministry of Education (MOE) added a new "weapon" recently.
In November, the ministry will unleash onto the world ... a test.
Armed with sharpened No. 2 pencils, scores of Taiwanese and Chinese-speaking foreigners will take this test. For those who pass, they will become foot soldiers in the "war to claim Chinese-ness," representing Taiwan's linguistic and cultural standards worldwide as accredited Chinese language educators.
"We see Chinese language teachers from China go out into the world to teach, and we feel the need to show [the world] our standards of Chinese language and culture, including traditional characters and our culture on Taiwan," said Chang Chin-sheng (
Chang added that Taiwan had a rich tradition of providing foreigners with the ideal environment to learn Chinese, and "exporting" the language and culture.
"Taiwan wants to promote its teachers in the US, and have them known as pedagogical professionals and linguistic ambassadors," Chang said.
RAISING THE BAR
Jeffrey Lamb, a master's student in the Graduate Institute of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), said the test could be an acceptable way to standardize Chinese language pedagogy.
"If you have two applicants for a Chinese teaching position, with one applicant accredited by the Taiwanese government and the other not, well, that could mean the difference between getting or losing the job," Lamb said.
He said that teaching Chinese was a profession, just like practicing law or medicine, and should therefore be defined by certain standards of performance and knowledge.
"You wouldn't seek out an unlicensed doctor to treat you, would you?" Lamb said.
MINIMAL INFLUENCE
Professor James Hargett, a seasoned Chinese teacher at the University of Albany in New York State, told the Taipei Times that learning Chinese was all the rage in the US, and that the country was in dire need of qualified Chinese teachers.
But, he added, more students were interested in China than Taiwan, and his classes leaned more toward simplified characters because of students' perception that "China is where the action is."
"Everyone's got a test these days," Hargett said, adding that Taiwan's influence was minimal.
"Taiwan is marginalized ... because it has no presence here to shape anything related to Chinese language learning. This is unfortunate, because there are some excellent Mandarin training facilities in Taiwan," the professor said, citing NTNU and National Taiwan University.
"This past summer we sent two students to [NTNU] on MOE scholarships and they absolutely loved it -- great teacher and wonderful facilities," Hargett said.
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
RSS