An Overview of ’s Cultural Diplomacy

By Economic and Cultural Office, Canada

I. Taiwan at a glance

The Republic of (Taiwan) is an island nation located on the Western

Pacific Rim with a population of 23 million people occupying a landmass of 36,000 square kilometers. Its geographical proximity to and the South

Pacific makes it a transportation and immigration hub throughout history. Taiwan boasts a diverse population consisting of , 16 recognized indigenous peoples and new immigrants mostly of Southeast Asian origin. Modern day

Taiwanese culture is a mixture of the above ethnic elements, at the same time exhibiting traits of Japanese, Dutch and Portuguese culture from its colonial past. This multi-facet and vibrant culture constitutes the integral part the unique Taiwanese identity we see today.

In order to promote Taiwanese culture globally, the government actively engaged in unconventional diplomacy to seek opportunities to showcase its innovations and diverse culture. Several notable central government agencies including the Ministry of

Culture (MOC), , the Ministry of Education (MOE),

Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC), as well as the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs (MOFA), among others play important roles in Taiwan’s cultural diplomacy.

II. Ministry of Culture (MOC) With thirteen outposts around the world, the Ministry employs a two-pronged approach: attracting international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) to

1 establish offices in Taiwan and promoting collaborations with foreign partners through its network of offices abroad. Taking Canada as an example, MOC worked with its Canadian counterpart to arrange for the internationally acclaimed Legend Lin

Dance Theatre to perform its latest “The Eternal Tides” for the Canadian audience at the National Arts Centre (NAC) this January; Taiwanese animated feature, “On

Happiness Road” was also invited to compete in the Ottawa International Animation

Festival (OIAF), and won Special Mention.

III. The National Palace Museum

Taiwan’s National Palace Museum, a world-class research, preservation and exhibition facility on par with the Louvre and the British Museum, is a major contributor to Taiwan’s cultural diplomacy. It houses 700,000 the world’s most impressive imperial Chinese artifacts and artworks which were once secured in

Beijing’s Forbidden City only to be cherished by the emperors. Over the years, the

National Palace Museum has continued to facilitate and foster interest and appreciation for classic through exchanges with prestigious museums in the United States, the United Kingdom, Austria, Russia, Germany, and .

Overseas exhibition of these national treasures are rare, and would always attract thousands of people.

IV. Ministry of Education (MOE)

The New Southbound Talent Development Program is the main focus of the

Ministry of Education (MOE)’s efforts to encourage Taiwanese students to go on exchanges in Southeast Asia. MOE also offers Taiwan Scholarship which covers both tuition and living expenses to attract talents from developing countries to complete their undergraduate and/ or graduate degrees on the island. Huayu (Mandarin) 2

Enrichment Scholarship was established to provide financial assistance to international students who have taken an interest in studying Mandarin in Taiwan.

More than 60 Canadian students have been awarded the Huayu Enrichment

Scholarship in the past five years.

In the same vein as TOEFL and IELTS, the Ministry of Education also administers annual TOCFL (Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language), in both traditional and simplified Chinese, and CCCC (Children’s Chinese Competency

Certification), for children between the ages 7-12, in major cities around the world. In

Canada, they are being held in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. MOE also regularly extends invitations to prominent scholars to visit Taiwan for important meetings and international forums. A case in point, Mr. Jacques Frémont, President and

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ottawa, travelled to Taiwan earlier this year to seek more in-depth collaborations with several research-intensive Taiwanese universities.

V. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA)

Since 2009, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has sponsored annual tours of Youth Ambassadors to more than 120 rotating international destinations. Youth

Ambassadors are current college and university students who, through a highly competitive peer voting process, are selected for their outstanding academic and extracurricular merits to facilitate mutual exchanges with host countries through artistic and cultural demonstrations. Ottawa welcomed a troupe of these young

Taiwanese rising stars in 2015; their closing performance in the University of

Ottawa’s Alumni Auditorium was an elaborately choreographed stage dance incorporating traditional and modern elements of Taiwanese culture that left the audience in awe for its originality. 3

MOFA also works with award winning international media such as the Discovery

and National Geographic channels to produce documentaries in conjunction with

dubbing popular television series to be broadcast by local content distributors in New

Zealand, Australia, India and other Southeast Asian countries.

Drawing inspiration from the United Sates’ “Art in Embassies Program,” MOFA has organized a series of “Art Shows in Diplomatic Spaces” in Taiwan’s New York,

Washington, Maryland and Singapore missions. These contemporary Taiwanese art exhibitions are made possible through the ministry’s sponsoring of “Art Bank Taiwan.”

“Art Bank Taiwan” is an initiative spearheaded by the National Taiwan Museum of

Fine Arts, which procures contemporary artworks with public funding, and loans them to public and private institutions at an affordable rate of 0.4 percent of their market value.

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