The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles (TECO-LA), on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan), signed an Agreement of cooperation with the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) on November 1, 2021. Simultaneously, a Collaboration Agreement on Chinese Language Education between National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) and UCLA was signed virtually and witnessed by Director General Louis M. Huang of TECO-LA. This is an inaugural cooperation on Chinese Language Education between universities in the southwestern regions of the United States, aiming to deepen the existing educational partnership and cultivate global citizens with languages skills and cross-cultural competencies.
The cooperation includes hosting Chinese teachers and teaching assistants selected by NTNU to provide Mandarin Chinese instruction at UCLA, and awarding Taiwan Huayu Best-Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent Scholarship, sponsored by the Ministry of Education (MOE), to allow UCLA students to travel to Taiwan to learn Mandarin Chinese effectively in a democratic and free environment. Through the arrangement of NTNU, the scholarship recipients will assist English learning activities to local elementary and middle schools in Taiwan. This will not only help Taiwanese students to enhance in English learning and better understand American culture, but will also benefit UCLA students to fully immerse in a Chinese learning environment and provide them with the opportunities to deeply explore the diverse cultures of Taiwan.
Director General Louis M. Huang addressed at the ceremony, held at TECO-LA, that Taiwan and the U.S. launched the “Taiwan-U.S. Education Initiative” on December 3, 2020, aiming to expand access to Mandarin and English-language instruction and safeguard academic freedom. The agreement between TECO-LA and UCLA, to support the language education cooperation between NTNU and UCLA, will not only meet the goal disclosed by the initiative but will also respond to the needs of Taiwan’s “2030 Bilingual Nation Policy.” Through this educational cooperation, we hope to jointly cultivate a new generation of global citizens with international vision and cross-cultural communication skills, so that they can work together to shoulder the challenge of coping with global pressing issues.
The National Taiwan Normal University has been the premier institution in educating teachers in Taiwan since its establishment and its ranking by subjects has advanced significantly in recent years. Three subjects from NTNU are within the top 50 of the world, they are Education, Linguistics, Library and Information Management. The Department of Chinese as a Second Language of NTNU is comprehensive and excels in Chinese teaching and teachers training; meanwhile, UCLA is a renowned research university and has trained countless scholars, experts and elites over the years. UCLA’s Asia Pacific Center has a leading place in the field of related Asian studies in the U.S. In particular, the Taiwan Study has thrived significantly with the initial and steadfast support from the Taiwan Ministry of Education and their collaboration with NTNU. In addition, with the support of TECO-LA in 2020, the project "Taiwan in the World" was established, aiming to cultivate professional talents with global visions for Taiwan and the United States.
Looking into the future, TECO-LA will work closely with UCLA and NTNU to support and invigorate interest in Chinese language teaching, learning and Taiwan Studies in respect of the shared values and interests of both parties that stem from freedom of speech and academic freedom. We hope to build mutual understanding among the young generation and deepen the existing friendship between our two countries.
Representatives from UCLA who participated in this signing ceremony included Cindy Fan, Vice Provost for International Studies and Global Engagement; Min Zhou, Director of Asia Pacific Center; Elizabeth Leicester, Executive Director of UCLA Asia Pacific Center; Aaron Miller, Assistant Director of Asia Pacific Center. In addition, Dean David Schaberg, College of Humanities; Prof. Shu-mei Shih, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures (ALC) ; and ALC Prof. Hongyin Tao joined virtually. Administrators and faculty of NTNU who joined virtually in this event were Executive Vice president, Frank Yung-Hsiang Ying; Vice President for International Affairs, Chun-Chi Lin, and his predecessor, Professor Hsiang-Lin Liu; Associate Vice President, Nikky Lin; Executive Director, Chung-Chiang Hsiao, and Associate Executive Director, Chao-Mei Tu, of the renowned Mandarin Training Center; Director of the Department of Chinese as a Second Language, Prof. Ya-Hsun Tsai; Manager of Higher Education Sprout Project Office, Dr. Jung Mei Su.
Director General Huang, Vice Provost Fan and Prof. Zhou jointly present the signed copies
Director General Louis M. Huang of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles (TECO-LA) delivers his remarks at the joint signing ceremony
UCLA Vice Provost for International Studies and Global Engagement Cindy Fan gives her remarks
UCLA Asia Pacific Center Director Min Zhou gives her remarks
Frank Yuang-Hsiang Ying, Executive Vice President of National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) virtually delivers his remarks
NTNU Vice President for International Affairs Chun-Chi Lin gives his remarks virtually
Director General Louis M. Huang of TECO-LA, Vice Provost Cindy Fan and Prof. Min Zhou of UCLA (left to right) sign the Collaboration Agreement
UCLA Asia Pacific Center Assistant Director Aaron Miller, Executive Director Elizabeth Leicester and Taiwan in the World Postdoctoral Scholar Shih-Chan Dai (left to right in the back) join the ceremony
Gift Exchange to Vice Provost Fan
Gift Exchange to Director General Huang
