Taiwan is planning to open 25 more branches of the Taiwan Center for Mandarin Learning (TCML) in North America and Europe next year, head of the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) said Monday.
At present, the plan is to set up the additional Mandarin learning centers exclusively in the United States and Europe, OCAC head Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said at a legislative hearing when asked by lawmakers why none of them will be in Southeast Asia.
Tung said the move was based on “national strategy,” and also because the TCML targets primarily “adult education,” while the OCAC’s similar Mandarin learning initiative in Southeast Asia is aimed at students.
The two initiatives “each have different levels of tasks,” the minister said.
According to Tung, the OCAC is planning to add 25 additional TCML branches in 2023 after opening 25 this year.
To date, 43 TCMLs have been established around the world, including 34 in the U.S., two each in the United Kingdom and France, and one each in Germany, Austria, Ireland, Sweden, and Hungary, according to information on the center’s website.
Tung was also asked why there were none in Australia, a country that is also important to Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific region.
Some schools 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 TCML’s expansion plan.
The center is currently promoted by three agencies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Ministry of Education (MOE), and the OCAC.
The OCAC is responsible for providing assistance to overseas Taiwanese groups and schools, while MOFA handles government-to-government communications, and the MOE handles exchanges between schools, Tung said.
Through Mandarin courses and cultural activities, the centers seek to foster cultural exchanges, popularize Mandarin learning, and deepen the relationship between Taiwan and people in their host countries, the OCAC said in April following the opening of a TCML branch in France.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel