Guests from the US State Department with the MOE delegation, including Kin W. Moy, Dr. Lio

On May 31, Taiwan’s Ministry of Education and FICHET—the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan—hosted a Taiwan Night reception in Washington DC, It was attended by nearly 200 people, including Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kin W. Moy, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Camile Dawson, both of whom work in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Laura Rosenberger, Chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT); Ingrid Larson, the managing director of the Washington headquarters of the AIT; Dr. Randall L. Nadeau, Executive Director of the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange; a Ministry of Education delegation from Taiwan, which included representatives of 24 colleges and universities in Taiwan; and representatives of 80 US sister-schools of educational institutions in Taiwan.

Deputy Representative Robin Cheng made the opening remarks on behalf of Bi-khim Hsiao, Taiwan’s Representative in the United States. He said that Taiwan has a scarcity of natural resources to rely on, and it is mainly Taiwan's emphasis on education, combined with concerted efforts across the country, that has made Taiwan a key player on the global economic stage today.

Educational cooperation between the U.S. and Taiwan actually began quite a long time ago, and over the years, Taiwanese students who pursued advanced studies in the United States and then returned to Taiwan have contributed to the vigorous development of Taiwan's economy and technology sector. In the last three years, Taiwan and the U.S. worked hand-in-hand in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and at the same time Taiwan and the U.S. collaborated to enhance supply chain resilience. This in turn required—and continues to require—mutual strengthening of collaboration to train enormous numbers of highly skilled people to ensure such a huge endeavor is sustainable.

In his remarks, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kin W. Moy said that he expected that the U.S. and Taiwan will bring their bilateral partnerships to new heights and he invited everyone present to cheer for the deepening of Taiwan–US relations. Following the formal remarks, the attendees mingled and talked, and enjoyed entertainment with a Taiwanese flair, which included a string quartet performing traditional Taiwanese folk music.