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.
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