AIT Taipei Office Director Li Yingjie mentioned in his opening speech at the “Taiwan-U.S. Education Initiative Series – Chinese Language Teaching Forum” on January 16 that many “Confucius Institutes” in the U.S. have closed, and he hopes Taiwan can fill the gap. I hope Taiwan can fill the gap and tell the story of Taiwan to American students who are learning Chinese. Taiwan is expected to send 60 Chinese language teaching assistants to the United States to teach Chinese to Americans.
AIT Taipei Office Director Li Yingjie mentioned the “Taiwan-US Education Initiative” and expressed his excitement and anticipation. Li pointed out that the U.S. and Taiwan have always had excellent and close cooperation in education, and now is a great time to deepen U.S.-Taiwan education cooperation, especially in the area of teaching and learning in English and Chinese.
Li Yingjie said he saw in the news that many Chinese “Confucius Institutes” in the United States have been closed; so now is the time for Taiwan to take steps to fill the gap, not only to teach Chinese and learn English, but also to tell the story of Taiwan to American students who are learning Chinese more comprehensively.
He believes that Taiwan’s story is a wonderfully bright one, a story of how the hard-working and sacrificial people of Taiwan have built a thriving democracy and a sound economy, and produced a well-educated and highly skilled workforce. And, of course, the story cannot be complete without Taiwan’s successful epidemic prevention efforts, which are among the best in the world and highly recognized. He said he was grateful and proud that Taiwan was willing to step up at this time – during the epidemic – and take an active role in teaching Chinese as a more important language.
1.3 billion people worldwide speak Chinese in their native language Li Yingjie: It is important for Taiwanese teachers to teach Chinese to young Americans
Li Yingjie told the 60 Chinese language teaching assistants of the FLTA in Taiwan who are about to depart to teach Chinese in the United States that Chinese is a language that has 1.3 billion native speakers around the world, so it is really important that they take on the task of teaching Chinese to young people in the United States.
It is also important to take this opportunity to introduce Taiwan, its people and hospitality, and to tell a different version of Taiwan’s history from that of the Confucius Institute. Despite the uncertainty, Li believes that there are many students in the U.S. who cannot wait to learn Chinese with a good teacher and will be enthusiastically welcomed.
U.S. and Democracies Maligned by Dictatorship Wu Chiu-sup: Taiwan is a Trusted Partner
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Wu Chiu-sup encouraged the teachers who will be teaching Chinese in the United States, saying they are all important drivers of Taiwan-U.S. relations. He believes that through the teaching of Chinese language, bilateral civil exchanges can continue to be strengthened and the friendship between the young generations of Taiwan and the United States can be further deepened, especially when the academic freedom of the United States and other democratic countries is maliciously infringed upon by an authoritarian regime.
Wu counted last year as a fruitful year for Taiwan-US work. In addition to education, Taiwan-US cooperation has made a lot of progress in security, economic and trade, science and technology, and health care.
First of all, in terms of security, the U.S. government implemented the normalization of arms sales to Taiwan. In addition to announcing arms sales to Taiwan 11 times in the past four years, the U.S. executive branch has declassified the “Six Assurances” and continues to demonstrate its commitment to Taiwan’s security in the Taiwan Relations Act and the “Six Assurances. As the Chinese Communist Party continues to nuisance Taiwan’s airspace and waters in the Taiwan Strait, strong U.S. support has allowed Taiwan to strengthen its self-defense capabilities.
In addition, the visits of U.S. Secretary of Health Alex Michael Azar II and Under Secretary of State Keith Krach to Taiwan in August and September of last year, respectively, were of great significance to Taiwan-U.S. relations. Azar is the highest-ranking U.S. Cabinet member to visit Taiwan since 1979, and his visit underscores the close public health partnership between Taiwan and the United States at a time when the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic is spreading around the world. Under Secretary Clark, the highest-ranking official from the State Department to visit Taiwan since 1979, laid the groundwork for a successful U.S.-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue during his visit to Taiwan and signed a memorandum establishing the Taiwan-U.S. Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue during the dialogue, institutionalizing the dialogue and further enhancing the U.S.-Taiwan economic partnership.
S.J. Hsu: Confucius Institutes Penetrate Global Education System Taiwan is First Choice for Chinese Language Learning
The Deputy Secretary General of the National Security Council of Taiwan, Mr. S. J. Hsu, also mentioned that in recent years, countries have come to realize that China’s use of “Confucius Institutes” to infiltrate the education system is a tool for Beijing to expand its influence globally. As a result, the U.S. government designated Confucius Institutes as foreign missions last August and warned schools at all levels about the potential risks of cooperation with Confucius Institutes and the threat to U.S. national security. In contrast, Taiwan’s democracy and freedom, as well as its excellent performance in the fight against Wuhan pneumonia since last year, make it an undeniable first choice for talented people from all over the world to learn Chinese and to spread the energy of quality Chinese language teaching to the world.
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