2014/1/17
No. 005
The Teen Diplomatic Envoys of the Republic of China (Taiwan) are scheduled to visit London, Edinburgh, and Dublin from January 19 to 29, 2014. This is the 12th overseas trip that Taiwan’s Teen Diplomats have embarked on.
The delegation consists of 12 senior high school students from Taipei Municipal Jianguo Senior High School, Taipei Fuhsing Private School, and Deguang Catholic High School in Tainan. These three schools were chosen from 134 high schools that took part in a variety of contests, including group performances and impromptu English public speaking. Winners earn the opportunity to represent Taiwan’s young generation through people-to-people diplomacy abroad.
Accompanied by officials and teachers, the students will visit government and legislative agencies, international organizations, and ROC overseas missions. They will also exchange views and hold panel discussions with local senior high school students, and visit well-known cultural sites and academic institutions.
Interactions between nations and peoples are becoming increasingly important. As such, the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Education began co-sponsoring the Teen Diplomatic Envoys program in 2002, in the hope of encouraging young people to focus more on international affairs. The program also aims to improve English communication skills among high school students, so that they will be better able to promote international cultural exchanges in the future. To date, 128 students from 32 high schools have gone abroad as the nation’s Teen Diplomatic Envoys, with visits to Singapore, Australia, the US, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, the UK, Ireland, the Holy See and Italy. (E)
