Taiwan Academy expands US network
TECO New York Director-General Andrew C.J. Kao (l) and TMCF CEO Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. sign the letter of intent June 20 in New York. (CNA)
By Taiwan Today
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York signed a letter of intent June 20 with U.S.-based Thurgood Marshall College Fund to establish cooperative contact points with the Taiwan Academy, adding 47 U.S. universities to its global network.
“Bilateral cooperation will help broaden the international perspective of Taiwan and U.S. students,” said TECO New York Director-General Andrew C.J. Kao. “It will also give American students a chance to learn about Chinese culture with special Taiwan characteristics.”
“Under the plan, TMCF member schools will become contact points for U.S. students, and will be preferentially awarded scholarships; learn traditional Chinese characters and cultural activities.”
Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., who signed the agreement on behalf of TMCF, said a few years ago the fund was signing similar agreements with other Southeast Asian nations when Ralph Cwerman of the Humpty Dumpty Institute recommended Taiwan. Taylor said he had been well-received by the ROC government, university officials and the public on a fact-finding mission in March 2013 making Taiwan a natural choice for the accord.
When the HDI began to set up links between U.S. universities and the U.N., the purpose was to bring an international perspective to American campuses, Cwerman said, and this agreement with the Taiwan Academy to let U.S. students learn Chinese culture and study in Taiwan fully reflected that ambition.
The 47 universities represented by the TMCF increase the Taiwan Academy’s number of global contact points from 207 to 254. (SDH).
