The government’s New Southbound Policy aims to establish people-to-people exchanges with ASEAN members, South Asian countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand, and the Ministry of Education has set up resource centers to pursue academic exchanges and cooperation with nations in its scope.
According to the ministry’s Web site, on its instruction, seven Taiwanese universities have set up “resource centers” for economic and industry-academic cooperation that should cover Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Philippines, India and Thailand.
Each center targets a specific country, except for the one established by National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, which targets Malaysia, as well as Singapore.
In addition to the centers, Deputy Minister of Education Yao Leeh-ter (姚立德) said that the ministry has also established academic coalitions for cooperation and exchanges with targeted nations in engineering, medicine, business management, agriculture, education and the humanities.
National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU) president Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀), whose school in Kaohsiung is in charge of the resource center for the Philippines, said Philippine universities are highly interested in the Kaohsiung-based school’s colleges of engineering, science and marine sciences.
The geographical proximity of Kaohsiung to Manila is also conducive to academic exchanges between the two sides, Cheng said.
“It only takes 90 minutes to fly to Manila from Kaohsiung, which is even faster than taking a high-speed train from here to Taipei,” he added.
Except in Malaysia, about half of all teaching staff at universities in the targeted nations do not hold doctoral degrees, the university said, adding that it has been admitting lecturers from the Philippines who want to pursue PhDs in Taiwan.
Teachers from NSYSU’s College of Engineering have also set up a workshop in the Philippines to provide professional training for local lecturers, the school said.
National Chi Nan University president Olivier Su (蘇玉龍), whose university oversees the resource center for Myanmar, said its Entrance Committee for Overseas Chinese Students has more than two decades of experience interacting with schools in Myanmar.
“We have also signed cooperation agreements with several Burmese universities, establishing a branch office and exchange programs, and inviting guest lecturers and postdoctoral fellows,” Su said.
National Chung Hsing University (NCHU) has strong expertise in agriculture and has always maintained a close cooperative relationship with Thai universities, said Chen Mu-min (陳牧民), chairman of the Graduate Institute of International Politics, which is responsible for academic exchanges with Thailand.
As an example, Chen cited NCHU cooperating with the Thailand Royal Project Foundation to plant high-value vegetables and tea in areas that used to grow opium poppies in northern Thailand, to improve the livelihood of local farmers.
The university has also signed a memorandum of cooperation with the oldest university in Sri Lanka, the University of Peradeniya, and conducted academic exchanges with universities in India, Bhutan and Nepal, Chen said.
Chen was on a visit to Assam state, India, and Bhutan when interviewed, and is part of the first Taiwanese academic team to visit the Royal University of Bhutan’s College of Natural Resources.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS