Produced by Red Border by TIME. Paid partnership as seen in the November 22nd issue of TIME.

Connecting Cultures

Taiwan and the U.S. strike a language agreement

A new era of cooperation between the U.S. and Taiwan is underway, led by the most fundamental form of human connection: language.

The U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative, which launched in December of 2020, will increase opportunities for Americans to learn Chinese, while simultaneously expanding access to learning English in Taiwan. Taiwan and the U.S. already have robust student exchange programs in place. Taiwan is the seventh-largest source of international students in the U.S., with over 23,000 Taiwanese students studying here last year. Taiwan, in turn, hosted 3,800 American exchange students in 2020.

But the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative is more ambitious in scope. According to Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, “The U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative marks a starting point for comprehensive educational cooperation between the two countries. The two sides will build upon existing language learning programs and academic exchanges going forward to further consolidate relations between Taiwan and the U.S.”

A Memorandum of Understanding for this agreement was signed by the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S. Several initiatives are already underway to increase U.S.-Taiwan collaboration in language learning.

In September, 12 universities from Taiwan and the American Midwest signed the Taiwan Huayu BEST Program agreement, bringing the total to 31 participating universities from both countries. The program facilitates the recruitment of Chinese-language educators from Taiwan to teach at select U.S. universities and provides scholarships as well as teaching resources.

“We cherish academic freedom and freedom of speech, all the values that American universities cherish”

TAIWAN’S REPRESENTATIVE TO THE UNITED STATES, AMBASSADOR BI-KHIM HSIAO, FROM THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

Fifteen Taiwan Centers for Mandarin Learning will open across the U.S., with the first of these already operational in Princeton and Murray Hill, New Jersey. The agreement also aims to increase student exchanges through existing programs like Fulbright and encourage more American students to study in Taiwan.

In September, Taiwan and Kentucky signed an agreement on higher education cooperation, the country's first with a state government since the launch of the initiative. Over the years, a number of states have signed similar agreements with Taiwan to promote educational exchange, and now more are expected to follow suit as the new initiative continues to gain traction.

The strategic importance of the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative cannot be overlooked. The recent closures of China’s Confucius Institutes, a widely used source of Chinese language education in the U.S. which critics claim was being used by China for politically motivated purposes, has put a renewed emphasis on the importance of languages being taught in a manner that’s free of bias and censorship. Moreover, Harvard University’s study abroad summer program, which allows students to learn Mandarin and participate in cultural activities, will be relocating from Beijing to Taipei in 2022.

The U.S. State Department has listed Chinese as a language that is critical to national security. In addition to helping protect national interests, Chinese language knowledge will open up new economic opportunities, giving speakers an advantage in the global economy and enabling communication with over a billion people.

In 2018, Taiwan set a national goal of becoming a bilingual nation by 2030, and it has since been scaling up its investment in English language instruction for both students and members of the workforce. Higher fluency in English will bring positive outcomes for Taiwan, including driving new economic activity, disseminating Taiwanese culture, and strengthening links between Taiwanese people and the international community.

Language is the primary tool for communicating and connecting with one another. It enhances cultural understanding, stimulates economic development, and allows people from opposite sides of the world to share knowledge and form long-lasting relationships. The U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative will facilitate these interactions and bring the people of both nations more closely together, heralding increased cooperation in the future and highlighting a commitment to our shared interests and values.