Taipei, Oct. 7 (CNA) Plans are being laid out to establish on-campus Chinese-language learning centers in the United States, following the signing of a cooperation memorandum between 12 universities last month, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said Thursday October 7.
The signing of the memorandum at the University of Illinois’s Discovery Partners Institute on Sept. 28 was announced by the MOE as part of the Taiwan Huayu Best (台灣優華語計畫) program.
The program will see Chinese-language educators from Taiwan sent to teach at select U.S. universities, with U.S. students offered the opportunity to study at Chinese-language learning centers in Taiwan.
The memorandum was signed by National Tsing Hua University, Tamkang University, Tunghai University, National Taiwan University, National Dong Hwa University, and Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages from Taiwan, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Michigan-Flint, North Park University, Indiana University Bloomington, Oakland University, and Southern Illinois University from the U.S.
Due to COVID-19 regulations, university representatives from both countries attended the ceremony via video, with in-person attendance from Taiwan’s representative to the U.S. Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago Johnson Chiang (姜森).
Speaking at the signing, Hsiao applauded the institutions involved for their efforts over the last few months to bring the Taiwan Huayu Best program to fruition.
She added that she looked forward to Taiwan assisting the U.S. in the promotion of Chinese-language education through future cooperation between the two countries.
The MOE said the project would seek to stimulate international cooperation between Taiwan and its global partners, as well as increase its international presence and influence.
It added it hoped the Taiwan Huayu Best project would benefit the nation’s 2030 Bilingual Nation Policy by drawing English-speaking talent to Taiwan to teach after learning Chinese through the project.
Taiwan’s representative to the U.S. Hsiao Bi-khim (left) and head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago Johnson Chiang. Photo courtesy of Taiwan’s representative office in Chicago
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