With Washington planning to increase the number of Americans studying Mandarin outside of China — as well as the study of other critical languages, Taiwanese Mandarin-language centers can be the ‘best replacements’ against Beijing-promoted Hanban Confucius institutes, who come with a baggage of espionage operations
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New Delhi: In a bid to expand Taiwan’s global influence and to showcase its potential to establish a network of language centers to counter Chinese Confucius institutions, Taipei’s legislators called upon the administration to promote Mandarin learning programs by the island nation.
According to report, Legislator Wang Ting-yu of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) asked the Overseas Community Affairs Council to promote Mandarin learning programs. Ting-yu’s appeal came back on the heels of the push made by the US Department of State for such language learning opportunities outside of China.
On October 17, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the launch of the Web site language.state.gov, including resources for more than 100 foreign languages.
Underscoring the opportunity extended by Washington, coupled with the closure of several Chinese Confucius institutes in the world, Ting-yu cited the State Department’s gesture to publish an image of Taipei 101 on its website.
He claimed that even though the program targets more than 100 languages and Taiwan is not a formal ally of the US, the gesture was an indication for deeper cultural exchanges between Taipei and Washington. He also appealed that the council should also promote Hoklo, Hakka, and other aboriginal languages to be part of the department’s multilingual program.
Taiwanese media quoted council Minister Tung Chen-yuan saying that ‘he would contact the American Institute in Taiwan to promote Mandarin learning resources at overseas schools.’
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Meanwhile, Pompeo on October 15, in a piece to a prominent media source had identified Mandarin as one of the critical languages, citing the policy of US President Donald Trump’s administration to meet the challenges posed by Beijing’s expansive ambitions. In his op-ed, Pompeo had announced that ‘we (the United States) plans to increase the number of Americans studying Mandarin outside of China — as well as the study of other critical languages through the State Department and other US government exchange programs.’ He even added that Washington is planning to ‘expand offerings in advanced Mandarin and increase the incentives for diplomats to pursue extra years of study.’
Research Associate of the Centre for China Analysis and Strategy, Namrata Hasija saw the move to push Taiwanese language centers in the world as an opportunity to achieve a ‘soft-diplomatic’ embrace between New Delhi and Taipei. She pointed out that Taiwan’s language advocacy for Mandarin could easily converge with New Delhi’s new education policy, in hosting centers across India.
She said that with India cracking a whip of the Beijing-promoted Hanban Confucius institutes, the Taiwanese Mandarin-language centers can be ‘best replacements.’
“Taiwanese language centers come without the extra baggage that the Hanban Confucius institutes bring into play. The Taiwanese education level is on par with any of the western nations. Thus, Taipei can also start new educational projects in India,” Hasija observed.
