Taiwan is planning to open 25 more Taiwan Center for Mandarin Learning branches in North America and Europe next year, Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) Minister Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said on Monday.
The plan is to set up the additional Mandarin learning centers exclusively in the US and Europe, Tung told a legislative hearing when asked by lawmakers why none would be in Southeast Asia.
The plan is based on “national strategy” and also because the centers primarily target “adult education,” while a similar Mandarin learning initiative run by the council in Southeast Asia is aimed at students, he said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The two initiatives “each have different levels of tasks,” he said.
The council plans to add 25 branches next year after opening 25 this year, Tung said.
Forty-three branches have been established around the world, 34 in the US, two each in the UK and France, and one each in Germany, Austria, Ireland, Sweden and Hungary, information on the center’s Web site showed.
Tung was also asked why there were none in Australia, a country that is important to Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific region.
Some universities in Australia have expressed interest in partnering with Taiwan to open a Mandarin learning center, Tung said, adding that the OCAC has referred the information to the National Security Council, which is leading the center’s expansion plan.
The center is promoted by three agencies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and the OCAC, Tung said.
The OCAC is responsible for providing assistance to overseas Taiwanese groups and schools, while the foreign ministry handles government-to-government communications and the education ministry handles exchanges between schools, he said.
Through Mandarin courses and cultural activities, the branches seek to foster cultural exchanges, popularize Mandarin learning, and deepen relationships between Taiwan and people in their host countries, the OCAC said in April following the opening of a branch in France.
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
A fourth public debate was held today about restarting the recently decommissioned Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, ahead of a referendum on the controversial issue to be held in less than two weeks. A referendum on Aug. 23 is to ask voters if they agree that “the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant should continue operations upon approval by the competent authority and confirmation that there are no safety concerns.” Anyone over 18 years of age can vote in the referendum. The vote comes just three months after its final reactor shut down, officially making Taiwan nuclear-free. Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) represented
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
‘ANGRY’: Forgetting the humiliations and sacrifices of ‘the people of the Republic of China’ experienced disqualified Lai from being president, Ma Ying-jeou said Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday criticized President William Lai (賴清德) over what he called “phrasing that downplayed Japan’s atrocities” against China during World War II. Ma made the remarks in a post on Facebook on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Ma said he was “angry and disappointed” that Lai described the anniversary as the end of World War II instead of a “victory in the war of resistance” — a reference to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The eight-year war was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other Axis
RSS