The Fulbright Program, the US government's flagship program for international exchange, has created a lasting impression on more than 2,000 academics from Taiwan and the US, American Institute in Taiwan Director Stephen Young said last night at a gala dinner celebrating five decades of the program in Taiwan.
For 50 years, Taiwan's Fulbright program has been a pioneer in responding to professional needs emerging from Taiwan's rapid economic and democratic development, Young said, adding that many of Taiwan's leaders, including Cabinet members, university presidents, professors and artists, are Fulbright alumni.
Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (
The prestigious scholarship program was proposed to the US Congress in 1945 by Senator J. William Fulbright. In the aftermath of World War II, he argued the program would be a much-needed mechanism to create mutual understanding between the US and the international community. The program was approved by Congress and signed into law by US president Harry Truman the next year.
In Taiwan, the Fulbright program is administered by the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange. The foundation has sent over 1,000 Taiwan researchers to the US and more than 700 US academics to Taiwan.
For the 2007 to 2008 academic year, the program is supporting 53 Taiwan grantees and 35 US grantees. The topics that will be studied by US Fulbright scholars in Taiwan include womens studies, physics and astronomy, business administration, anthropolgy, journalism and linguistics.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
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