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.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS