The Ministry of Education announced on Monday that it’s planning to sponsor a series of academic conferences to promote research on Taiwan.
The conferences will take place at 15 universities around the world before the end of the year. The decision to fund the events is part of the ministry’s efforts to encourage more overseas scholars to make Taiwan the focus of their research.
Thirty universities have already hosted conferences on Taiwan Studies since the Ministry of Education began promoting the field in 2003. However, Taiwan Studies is still emerging as a separate discipline from China Studies.
The education ministry also renewed existing agreements with a number of universities. The hope is that continuing to hold conferences will promote further research and boost young scholars’ interest in Taiwan.
Ministry grants this year will also pave the way for a number of countries to host their first-ever conference on Taiwan.