Participants in one of the online meetings between three American universities in the greater Washington D.C. area and three universities in Taiwan

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S. (TECRO) and the American Institute in Taiwan - Washington Headquarters signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in December last year, to launch the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative. This initiative maintains and further develops the current government-sponsored exchange programs, and promotes developing new dynamics and opportunities for Taiwan universities to work together with partner American universities in the field of language education. 

One aspect is to promote and support Chinese language learning through university partnerships, while safeguarding academic and intellectual freedom. Over the last few months, the Education Division at TECRO in the U.S. has been promoting the Best Huayu Program. Three American universities in greater the Washington D.C. area and three universities in Taiwan have had several rounds of online meetings to discuss directions for cooperation, explore avenues for teacher and student exchanges, and discuss the possibility of signing an MOU. 

• Given that both Taiwan and the U.S. share the democratic values, the partner universities will encourage American students to pursue language studies in Taiwan, an environment free from censorship and undue influence.
• As President Tsai has officially declared the goal of making Taiwan bilingual by 2030, the partner universities will work to attract and encourage students majoring in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) in American universities to teach English in Taiwan.
• The partner universities will seek to expand the opportunities for qualified language teachers from Taiwan universities to work as visiting Chinese lecturers and teaching assistants in the United States and teach Chinese and introduce Taiwan’s culture and society to American students.