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.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a