The government aims to make Taiwan the top destination for Mandarin learners from the US, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) said yesterday.
Tseng made the remarks at a two-day symposium, called Teaching Chinese as a Second Language in the US, which opened in Taipei yesterday, and was attended by officials and Chinese-language teaching experts.
The US-Taiwan Education Initiative, launched on Dec. 3, 2020, is to expand access to Mandarin learning to students in the US, while safeguarding academic freedom, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Deputy Director Jeremy Cornforth said.
Photo courtesy of American Institute in Taiwan
Cornforth thanked the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (Fulbright Taiwan) for helping more than 200 American Fulbrighters travel to Taiwan last year, despite COVID-19-related restrictions.
Taiwan is the biggest partner of the US’ Fulbright program, Tseng said.
“Some countries” have utilized language teaching as a tool to infiltrate and undermine democratic societies, he said, without elaborating.
To counteract such infiltration, Taiwan must stand out to share its quality Chinese-language teachers and teaching resources — a better “Taiwan model” — with its like-minded democratic partners, he said.
“Taiwan is the most reliable partner for the US,” as both sides would work more closely to promote Taiwan’s teaching methods, Tseng said.
Hopefully, Taiwan would become the top destination for Mandarin learners arriving from the US, he said.
Taiwanese who teach the Chinese language in other countries are not only teachers, but must also shoulder the responsibility of spreading Taiwanese culture and values, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) said.
The government is working with the US and European countries to promote Taiwan’s model of teaching the Chinese language, he said.
Ten Taiwanese schools have since last year worked with more than 20 US schools to promote Chinese-language learning, Deputy Minister of Education Lio Mon-chi (劉孟奇) said.
The education ministry offers US students scholarships to study Chinese in Taiwan, and it would increase subsidies for Chinese-language teachers working in the US, he said.
The education ministry is also helping local schools that partner with schools in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, Lio said.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
RSS