Representative to the United States, Bi-khim Hsiao, witnessed the signing of the memorandum of education cooperation with Taiwan by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education and the Alabama Department of Education on March 24. Representative Hsiao also accepted a joint friendship resolution passed by the State Senate and House and presented by Speaker of the House, Mac McCutcheon.
The signing ceremony of the memorandum was held at the Alabama State Capitol. It was signed by Dr. Jim Purcell, Executive Director of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, and Dr. Eric Mackey, the Alabama State Superintendent of Education. Representative Hsiao, Secretary of State John Merrill, Speaker Mac McCutcheon, representatives from Senator Tommy Tuberville, Congressman Robert Aderholt, Congressman Barry Moore, and Congresswoman Terri Sewell, and members of the Taiwanese community were present to witness. The memorandum will be sent to Taiwan’s Ministry of Education to complete the signing.
Alabama is the second state to sign an education cooperation memorandum with Taiwan after Kentucky since the launch of the “US-Taiwan Education Initiative” in 2020. The initiative aims at establishing a language cooperation platform to promote Mandarin Chinese and English language learning, and teacher-student exchanges as well as holding academic programs in order to cultivate international talents.
Before the signing ceremony, the Alabama Senate and House of Representatives unanimously passed the friendship resolution, supporting the promotion of bilingual exchanges with Taiwan. Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon personally handed the resolution to Representative Hsiao. The resolution also supports Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations and calls on the United States to begin negotiations with Taiwan on a bilateral trade agreement.
