Following the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative MOU signing in December 2020, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the third high-level dialogue on February 22, 2023, including participation by a U.S. delegation led by State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP) Camille Dawson. The annual dialogue followed the December 2020 signing of the AIT-TECRO Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on international education cooperation. The initiative is aimed at expanding access to Mandarin and English language instruction, while safeguarding academic freedom, and specifically highlights and enhances Taiwan’s role in providing Mandarin-language instruction to Americans and people around the world.
This year’s dialogue was conducted both in-person and virtually and led by Daniel Kritenbrink, the State Department’s Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and by Deputy Secretary-General of Taiwan’s National Security Council Szu-chien Hsu. U.S. attendees include Department of State Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP) Camille Dawson, Managing Director of AIT Washington Ingrid Larson, as well as AIT Taipei Acting Director Jeremy Cornforth and Chief of Public Diplomacy Section Diane Sovereign. Virtual U.S. attendees included U.S. Department of Education Chief of Staff Shelia Nix and Senior Advisor and Director of International Affairs Maureen McLaughlin as well as U.S. Department of State Deputy Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) Ethan Rosenzweig and ECA Senior Policy Advisor David Plack.
Taiwan’s participation included Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Roy Lee and Vice Minister Alexander Tah-ray Yui, Deputy Minister of Education Mon-Chi Lio, Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) Vice Minister Roy Leu, National Development Council (NDC) Deputy Minister Keh-her Shih and Director General Connie Chang, MOFA Deputy Director General Jason Ma, Ministry of Education Director General Nicole Lee, and OCAC Director General Hong-Ying Lin.
During the dialogue, both sides took stock of achievements to date, explored ways to enhance and expand existing programs for two-way educational exchanges between the United States and Taiwan, and reaffirmed their joint commitment to deepening cooperation on international education. ECA also announced its letter of support to the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) to expand Taiwan’s education cooperation within U.S. states to include K-12 education.
Since the MOU was signed in 2020, AIT and TECRO have enhanced and expanded international education cooperation, including through existing Mandarin and English language learning opportunities. The MOU also encourages the exploration of opportunities for Mandarin and English language teachers and resources to be deployed to language programs at U.S. universities and Taiwan educational institutions, respectively, as well as facilitates increased exchanges on best practices between U.S. and Taiwan institutions.
The U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative MOU is set against the backdrop of two distinct but related trends. First, interest in Mandarin language learning remains strong among American and international students in U.S. secondary and higher education institutions. Taiwan can play a key role in addressing that interest.
Second, Taiwan has been increasing its investment in English language instruction in the hopes of internationalizing both its student body and its workforce. President Tsai has announced a goal of making Taiwan completely bilingual by 2030. Doing so would mean that Taiwan’s students and young talent who wish to gain experience outside of Taiwan would have expanded options.
These two trends are both rooted in the same principle: young people should be able to pursue academic and professional opportunities in an environment free from coercion and censorship. This Initiative will provide a platform for expanded cooperation in pursuing both our shared interests and our shared values.
To learn more about the progress on the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative, please refer to the U.S.-Taiwan Education Factsheet.