Taiwan is on track to establish a global network of 100 Mandarin language learning centers by 2025, Overseas Community Affairs Council Minister Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said.
The council has so far established 43 Taiwan Centers for Mandarin Learning: 34 in the US, two each in France and the UK, and one each in Australia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland and Sweden, Tung said last week.
The program has reached its implementation goals ahead of schedule, he said, adding that 28 new centers would open after being certified later this year.
The council’s other objectives include building solidarity among Taiwanese communities abroad, integrating the business resources of Taiwanese living abroad, and utilizing innovation in student recruitment and learning, he said.
The council is hosting competitions for speaking, singing and writing in Mandarin, and enhancing its use of Web-based resources, he said.
The Taipei Department of Education’s Taipei CooC-Cloud and the Ministry of Education’s online multimedia platform are working with the council to promote Taiwan-led Mandarin education abroad, he said.
The country’s promotion of Mandarin learning centers is in part to replace Beijing’s Confucius Institutes after governments and universities in many countries began closing the programs for allegedly engaging in censorship and propaganda in host countries.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
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