Taiwan and the US are to jointly enhance artificial intelligence (AI) applications in Mandarin education and traditional Chinese corpus development to protect Mandarin learning from authoritarian censorship and control, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Ming-chi (陳明祺) said yesterday.
The fifth high-level dialogue of the US-Taiwan Education Initiative was held in Taipei yesterday.
Attendees from the US included US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regional Security Policy and Public Diplomacy Robert Koepcke and American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Washington Office Managing Director Ingrid Larson.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Speaking at a post-dialogue briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chen said US Department of State senior bureau official Darren Beattie expressed strong support for deepening the bilateral educational partnership.
The initiative was launched in 2020 during US President Donald Trump’s first term and has proven to be a cornerstone of the Taiwan-US partnership, he said.
Yesterday was the initiative’s first dialogue for Trump’s second term, reflecting mutual commitment to sustaining and deepening educational cooperation between the two nations, Chen said.
Both sides agreed to prioritize building bilateral talent training pathways, improving Mandarin education and cross-cultural influence, enhancing Taiwan’s bilingual education and expanding Taiwan-US educational cooperative platforms, he said.
This year marks the 250th anniversary of US independence and the 30th anniversary of Taiwan’s first direct presidential election, a milestone of shared commitment to democracy and freedom, Chen said.
Taiwan would collaborate with US partners on extending AI applications in Mandarin-language teaching and developing trustworthy traditional Chinese corpora in large language models, he said.
That would not only contribute to the global language technology standards, but also ensure that Mandarin learning worldwide remains free from authoritarian censorship and control, he added.
Larson said traditional Chinese characters is a vital foundation for Mandarin education and that cultural literacy would be stressed, adding that exchanges through programs such as the Fulbright program continue to be expanded.
Taiwan has set up 64 Mandarin learning centers across the US, which has created durable bilateral ties as well as real opportunities for learners and institutions, she said.
AIT Deputy Director Karin Lang said that Taiwan is an outstanding partner in bringing capability and creativity to educational exchanges and talent development.
Bilateral cooperation would focus on preparing talent in critical, emerging technologies such as semiconductors, advanced manufacturing and AI, she said, adding that language learning skills and cross-cultural competence would remain essential for a workforce operating in global high-tech environments.
Lang also reaffirmed the AIT’s commitment to working closely with Taiwan as the education initiative moves into the next phase, which would advance workforce development initiatives and deepen institutional partnerships.
Deputy Minister of Education Liu Kuo-wei (劉國偉) said New York was the first US state to recognize Taiwan’s Mandarin language test as a Seal of Biliteracy in 2023, and that recognition has expanded to 28 states.
The goal is to be recognized across all 50 states, he said.
Taiwan in 2023 formed an academic alliance between 12 top domestic universities and three major US university systems — the University of Illinois, Texas A&M and the University of Texas systems, Liu said.
The collaboration focused on high-tech research such as AI, semiconductors and quantum science, with more than US$4 million invested in 42 related projects over the past two years, he said, adding that the ministry expects to continue the collaboration with the US and involve more young people over the next three years.
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