English speakers around the world who are interested in Taiwanese culture, arts and entertainment have increased access to information through a Web site officially launched yesterday.
Culture.tw, funded by the Council of Cultural Affairs (CCA) and run by the Central News Agency (CNA), aims to be the main Internet portal that "showcases the rich and colorful culture of Taiwan in English," Chief Editor of the site Miranda Loney told a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
After more than a year of planning, culture.tw was launched quietly in July on a trial basis, council Vice Chairman Wu Chin-fa (吳錦發) said.
"During the trial run, an average of 800 plus unique users viewed the Web site from 53 countries around the globe every day," he said.
Accounting for 45.53 percent of all hits, US Internet users were the largest group of regular visitors to the Web site, while English speakers in Taiwan accounted for 42.64 percent of hits, Wu said.
Taiwan-related cultural events and activities can be found in the frequently updated events section, while the "stories section offers in-depth, high quality written features on various facets of Taiwan culture augmented by audio, video, and photographs," Loney said.
Users may also discuss or comment on issues related to Taiwanese culture, Loney said.
David Blundell, a linguistic anthropologist who teaches at National Chengchi University, praised culture.tw as excellent.
"[The site is] an excellent tool for my students in Taiwan to learn about Taiwan?and it's [also] something so convenient and easy to use for my students in California to discover Taiwanese culture," Blundell said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS