Taiwan’s representative office in the US yesterday announced the launch of a Web site to facilitate efforts to replace Confucius Institutes as the go-to establishment for learning Mandarin.
The Learn & Study in Taiwan Web site can be accessed at www.us2taiwan.org, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US (TECRO) said.
The Overseas Compatriot Affairs Council since 2020 has established more than 35 Taiwan Centers for Mandarin Learning across the US.
Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) signed the Memorandum of Understanding on International Education Cooperation with American Institute in Taiwan Managing Director Ingrid Larson in December 2020.
“Taiwan respects academic freedom and has a pluralistic and open society, making it the best option for US students to seek further studies or learn Mandarin,” TECRO said at the time.
The office yesterday said that the Web site would provide people in the US with more information should they want to visit Taiwan to learn Mandarin.
Hopefully, more Americans would study and learn Mandarin in Taiwan, it said.
The site’s friendly design allows students to quickly obtain information based on their goals, whether it is to seek further studies or simply enroll in a language course, it said.
The information is based on expected needs and includes how to apply for visas, how to select a school, as well as details on accommodation.
The site provides information on Taiwan Centers for Mandarin Learning so that students can find language learning locations near them, the office said.
China’s Confucius Institutes have been identified as a tool for spreading Beijing’s propaganda.
The US Department of State in August 2020 designated the Confucius Institute US Center as a “foreign mission.”
There were 107 Confucius Institutes in the US as of April 2017, but there were only 18 as of April 5, data from the New York-based National Association of Scholars showed.
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