The finals of the 4th Chinese language Debating Contest hosted by the Chinese Club at the Foreign Trade University were held in the Palace of Knowledge on April 8, 2018, with the support of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam and the Council of Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce in Vietnam. The theme of this year’s contest was ‘Language - a power for our times’.
The contest continues to attract increasing interest.  Thirty-three teams of three from senior high schools and universities in the provinces of Northern Vietnam and Hanoi City took part in the preliminary contest, compared to last year’s 25 teams.
The panel of judges selected teams from five institutions to enter the finals: from the University of Languages and International Studies - VNU, Hanoi University, the Foreign Trade University, Hanoi Law University, and Amsterdam High School in Hanoi. The Team of Fire from Hanoi University was judged the champion, and one of its members, Ms. Duong Khanh Ly, won the best sophist award.
Lee Ming, Director of the Education Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam spoke at the award ceremony, and commended all the teams, saying that debating in a foreign language is a really demanding task, because it requires both high level language skills and public-speaking techniques. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam has sponsored the contest since it first began and is delighted to see it grow in scale year by year. He hopes it will become a nationwide contest. He also announced that from next year, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam will provide several Huayu Enrichment Scholarships to be awarded to outstanding team members, to encourage excellent students to continue to enhance their Chinese language ability and have more options for a bright future.

Photo:From left: Chang Wei-Chian, chair of the Chinese Club at the Foreign Trade University; Pham Thi Minh Hai, representing Miracle International Company, a sponsor; Kao Kuo-Hua, a commissioner of the Overseas Community Affairs Council of the Republic of China; Lu Zhi-Sheng, Director of the Hanoi branch of the Council of Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce in Vietnam; Tran Thi Thanh Mai, representing the Thanhmaihsk Chinese Language Center, Hanoi; and Lee Ming, Director of the Education Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam.