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MOC seeks expanded Taiwan cultural influence

ROC Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai (right) confers with Canadian Trade Office in Taipei Executive Director Scott Robert Fraser (left) and American Institute in Taiwan Director William A. Stanton (center) at a reception May 28 in Taipei City. (CNA)

• Publication Date：05/29/2012
• Source： Taiwan Today
• By  June Tsai

The Ministry of Culture plans to expand its overseas missions from three to 11 in a bid to take Taiwan’s soft power to the world, MOC Minister Lung Ying-tai said May 28.

As the first democracy in the Chinese-speaking world, with established civic values, she said, Taiwan occupies a special position from which it can offer a different perspective on world trends and events, especially with regard to Chinese and Asian cultures.

Lung made the remarks during an MOC reception for ambassadors and representatives based in Taiwan, attended by diplomats from more than 40 countries.

According to the minister, eight more cultural centers will be created in the European Union, Asia and the Americas, adding to the existing three in New York, Paris and Tokyo.

Together with the Taiwan Academy branches already established in Houston, Los Angeles and New York, these overseas missions are expected to become cultural bases in their respective cities, “where Taiwan’s artists and writers talk about their works, and films on Taiwan are screened,” Lung said.

Forging partnerships with universities in other countries is also a possibility for expanding the influence of Taiwan’s scholars, thinkers and writers, she added.

The MOC will help local governments in Taiwan network with cities and local governments around the world, building direct and effective contacts for cultural exchange, she said.

Lung expressed hopes for increased interaction with Latin American, Middle East and African countries, as in the past Taiwan was influenced most heavily by the U.S. and Europe.

Moreover, “with more and more immigrants to Taiwan from Southeast Asian countries, the local populace must pay greater attention to the cultures they bring in, and work to meet the ideal of being global citizens,” she said. (THN)