Ambassador Tien Chung-Kwang and Mr. Yi Ta Chen from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India attended a meeting at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) with Prof. Sudhir Kumar Sopory, the Vice-Chancellor of JNU, Prof. B.R. Deepak, Chairman of JNU’s Centre of Chinese and Southeast Asia Studies, and Prof. Varun Sahni, Chief Advisor at JNU on March 19.

Jawaharlal Nehru University, the most important of India’s central universities, is named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister. It was established in 1969 by an act of Indian parliament. The Centre of Chinese and Southeast Asia Studies at JNU is India’s leading institute in teaching Chinese.

The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the possibility of collaborating with Taiwan’s National Tsing Hua University to establish a Mandarin Language Center at JNU. National Tsing Hua University has successfully undertaken such collaborations with other prestigious universities in India: Amity University in Uttar Pradesh; Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi; India Institute of Technology in Madras; and O.P Jindal Global University in Haryana.

During the meeting, Ambassador Tien explained the difference between the traditional forms of Chinese characters used in Taiwan and elsewhere, and the simplified forms of Chinese characters, both of which need to be mastered by anyone who plans to become a translator or later do research in some area of Chinese or Taiwan Studies. He emphasized that students who would like to learn to read and write Chinese should begin by learning the traditional forms.

Prof. Sopory expressed his appreciation to Ambassador Tien’s for this information and for his visit, and said he hoped a Taiwan education center would be established in the very near future.

Photo：From left: Mr. Yi Ta Chen, administrative official, TECC; Prof. B.R. Deepak, Chairman, Centre of Chinese and Southeast Asia Studies, JNU; Ambassador Tien Chung-Kwang, TECC; Prof. Sopory, Vice-Chancellor, JNU; Prof. Varun Sahni, Chief Advisor, JNU.