The First India–Taiwan Bilateral Forum on Mandarin Chinese Course Materials for Indian Learners held in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.

The First India–Taiwan Bilateral Forum on the Mandarin Chinese Course Materials for Indian Learners was held on March 10 and 11, 2017 at JNU campus. This two-day first-of-its-kind international forum was collaboratively organized by the Centre for Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), the Taiwan Education Center of National Tsing Hua University, and National Kaohsiung Normal University, with support from the Ministry of Education of Taiwan and its Representative Office, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in New Delhi. Prof. Priyadarsi Mukherji, Chairman of the Centre for Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies, presided over the forum.
Its aim was to provide an opportunity for Indian and Taiwanese Mandarin teachers to share their experiences and to discuss the possibility of future collaboration to develop teaching materials for Indian learners.
Taiwan’s Representative Tien Chung-kwang and Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar, the Vice Chancellor of JNU, each spoke at the opening. Tien Chung-kwang said that he truly believed that language is the key to open the world, and that suitable course materials are a fundamental tool for teaching and learning Mandarin Chinese. Prof. Kumar pointed out that relations between India and Taiwan are getting stronger and there could be more cooperation in the fields of science, technology, and education. Both expressed hope that such academic interaction will occur regularly in future and strengthen educational cooperation between India and Taiwan.
Representatives from four universities in Taiwan: National Tsing Hua University, National Kaohsiung Normal University, National Cheng Kung University, and Tamkang University; students and professors from the Chinese departments of various Indian universities, including JNU, Visva-Bharati University, Central University of Jharkhand, Panjab University, Doon University, and the English and Foreign Languages University, and ten Taiwanese Mandarin teachers from Amity University- Noida, O.P. Jindal Global University, Jamia Millia Islamia University, SRM University, IIT Madras, IIT Mumbai, Veltech University, and Graphic Era University participated in this international forum .
Nowadays there are professors from Taiwan heading the Chinese departments and programs in a number of prestigious universities in the United States, such as MIT, Harvard University, and other Ivy League universities. Prof. Liao Hao-hsiang, the Director of the Chinese Language Program of Massachusetts Institute of Technology was invited to attend as a special guest lecturer. He presented a paper entitled “The Selection and Teaching Application of Chinese Materials” and shared his teaching experience and insights on developing the materials at MIT. This bilateral forum offered an excellent opportunity to share his expertise and help further develop Mandarin Chinese course materials for the universities in India, and the participants from India and Taiwan all expressed hope that such a forum can be held annually.