President Ma Ying-jeou on the afternoon of May 8 visited Shih Hsin University to attend a reception arranged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) for foreign students who are completing their studies in the ROC under the Taiwan Scholarship and the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship programs. The president not only listened to the students sharing the results of their studies in Taiwan, but also expressed hope that Taiwan will become an Asia-Pacific center for higher education and a global center for Chinese language learning, thus further promoting cultural interaction.
The president first toured an exhibition of winning entries in the 2015 Fabulous Taiwan Photography and Caption Contest for participants of the two scholarship programs, with the top three winners explaining their works. The president applauded the students for their creativity and enthusiasm.
In remarks, the president congratulated the 549 students from 64 countries who are either graduating or completing their studies under the scholarship programs. He stated that the Taiwan Scholarship and the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship programs are important initiatives promoted by the government to encourage outstanding foreign students to study in Taiwan. The Taiwan Scholarship program is jointly run by the MOFA, the MOE, and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). The MOFA hopes that the scholarship program will assist in cultivating talent for the ROC's diplomatic partners, with the graduating students contributing what they have learned to their countries and participating in national development upon their return home. The MOE is responsible for assisting students from nations with which the ROC does not have diplomatic relations to come to Taiwan to study for degrees, while the MOST focuses on bringing outstanding students to Taiwan from nations that emphasize the development of technology in fields similar to those promoted here, he said.
The president remarked that over 4,800 individuals have been accepted into the Taiwan Scholarship program since its inception in 2004, and to date over 3,400 of those students have completed their studies here. Some of the graduates are already serving in important positions in the governments of the ROC's allies. For instance, Fakasoa Tealei from Tuvalu serves as assistant secretary in his country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade, Tourism, Environment & Labour, while Bwakura Metutera Timeon from Kiribati is the vice minister of the internal and social affairs in her nation. Meanwhile, Rifat Karlova from Turkey, also a graduate of the Taiwan Scholarship program, won a Golden Bell Award for his performance as host of a travel program called "I Walker." The president pointed out that five years ago he attended a meeting of the Solomon Islands cabinet during a visit to that nation and was delighted to discover that the minister of agriculture and livestock was a graduate of National Pingtung University of Science and Technology.
The president then discussed the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship, pointing out that it was established in 2006 and that to date, over 4,000 foreign students have come to Taiwan to learn Chinese under this program. Upon completion of their Chinese studies, quite a few students have applied successfully for the Taiwan Scholarship and continued to study here in degree programs. This, the president said, indicates that more and more students are willing to come to Taiwan to study. The president stated that regardless of whether foreign students come to Taiwan to learn Chinese or specialized knowledge under either of the two scholarship programs, they have an opportunity to gain a deep understanding of the customs and people of Taiwan
Speaking about the government's higher education policies, the president noted that seven years ago when he took office he immediately advocated turning Taiwan into an Asia-Pacific center for higher education. Taiwan, he said, welcomes foreign students and students from mainland China to enter local institutions of higher education, which gives local students an opportunity to expand their international horizons without leaving the country. A total of about 93,000 overseas students came to Taiwan last year to study, which is three times more than the 30,000 students that were coming here annually when he took office. The president hopes this number will reach 100,000 or even 110,000 prior to his leaving office.
The president stated that the ROC uses orthodox characters in the instruction of Chinese, whereas mainland Chinese uses simplified characters. While some people have expressed concerns that this affects student recruitment efforts, the president said that in fact the promotion of simplified characters in the mainland focuses on roughly 2,200 characters, which constitutes one-fourth to one-third of commonly used characters. And of these simplified characters, less than 500 bear no similarity to their orthodox counterparts. Consequently, students can learn both types of characters when looking up characters in dictionaries published here. In other words, students can learn both types of characters when they learn Chinese in Taiwan, he said. Over 15,000 foreign students came to Taiwan to learn Chinese last year, and it is hoped that this number will reach 29,000 in 2016 and grow further to over 40,000 in 2021. This, the president said, will enable Taiwan to become a global center for Chinese language learning and further promote cultural exchanges.
Lastly, the president stated that for the students in the audience, May 8 marked the finish line in their studies in Taiwan. However, it also marked the start of a new relationship between them and Taiwan. The ROC government has established 64 Taiwan Fellowships & Scholarships Alumni Associations throughout the world, and today's graduates are welcome to join these organizations when they return home to continue their contact and friendship with the ROC, he said.