Taiwan is on track to establish a global network of 100 Mandarin language learning centers by 2025, Overseas Community Affairs Council Minister Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said.
The council has so far established 43 Taiwan Centers for Mandarin Learning: 34 in the US, two each in France and the UK, and one each in Australia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland and Sweden, Tung said last week.
The program has reached its implementation goals ahead of schedule, he said, adding that 28 new centers would open after being certified later this year.
The council’s other objectives include building solidarity among Taiwanese communities abroad, integrating the business resources of Taiwanese living abroad, and utilizing innovation in student recruitment and learning, he said.
The council is hosting competitions for speaking, singing and writing in Mandarin, and enhancing its use of Web-based resources, he said.
The Taipei Department of Education’s Taipei CooC-Cloud and the Ministry of Education’s online multimedia platform are working with the council to promote Taiwan-led Mandarin education abroad, he said.
The country’s promotion of Mandarin learning centers is in part to replace Beijing’s Confucius Institutes after governments and universities in many countries began closing the programs for allegedly engaging in censorship and propaganda in host countries.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
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