Taiwan is committed to bolstering academic exchanges with the U.S. while jointly strengthening global supply chain resilience, according to Premier Chen Chien-jen March 13.

Taiwan and the U.S. share universal values of democracy, freedom, and respect for human rights, Chen said. The two sides continue to deepen their friendship and expand cooperation in key areas including artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and semiconductors, he added.

Chen made the remarks while receiving a delegation from the University of Illinois System led by UIS President Timothy Killeen, UIS Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation Jay Walsh and UIS Interim Associate Vice President for Corporate and International Relations Pradeep Khanna.

According to Chen, Taiwan is now playing an even more important role in Mandarin language instruction in the U.S. since launching a joint education initiative in 2020. Hsinchu City-based National Tsinghua University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign formed a cooperation pact on Mandarin learning in 2021, paving the way for further exchanges between students from the two sides, he said.

Chen also took the opportunity to thank UIS for its longstanding support for bilateral cooperation on higher education.

In response, Killeen said Taiwan and the U.S. have many shared values. The purpose of the visit is to strengthen the school’s relations with the public and private sectors as well as government agencies, while building on the established partnership, he added.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan)