Under a new foreign policy it adopted last year, Taiwan is seeking to woo more foreign students, including from India, to study in its institutes of higher learning. “The central focus of our New Southbound policy is to strengthen ties with Southeast Asia and India,” Rebecca Lan, Deputy Director General at the Department of International and Cross-Strait Education in Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, said during an interaction with a group of visiting journalists from the region here.

On February 28, we celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Shanghai Communique. The 1972 agreement, brokered by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, ended 23 years of diplomatic estrangement between the United States and China, and laid the foundation for a peaceful and prosperous Asia. The Vietnam War was still raging when the Communique was signed but there has been no major war in the Asia-Pacific since that time. 

Under its new foreign policy adopted last year, Taiwan hopes to share its expertise with India in areas like smart cities and clean energy, a senior official has said. [...] Clean energy goes without saying,” she said. “Your country and mine are going in the same direction.” The Asian Silicon Valley project is a major part of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s economic reforms aimed at infusing new life into Taiwan’s economy.

Core to Donald Trump’s appeal, both at home and abroad, is that he doesn’t seem to care how he’s supposed to behave. He certainly doesn’t fuss over offending Chinese nationalist sensibilities. This perhaps explains, in part, his curious adventure in China-Taiwan diplomacy. [...] And now he’s walking back his moves on Taiwan: On his first phone call with President Xi Jinping, Trump said he would honor the One China policy.

The Taipei International Book Exhibition 2017 opened at the Taipei World Trade Center Wednesday, featuring representatives from hundreds of publishers along with a wide range of activities, including keynote speeches, lectures, reading sessions, publication introductions and cultural performances.

On the final day of President Tsai Ing-wen’s second international trip to South America as part of a strategy to consolidate Taiwan’s diplomatic ties with its allies in the region, she hinted that mutual co-operation could become an integral component of its future official relationships. [...] In some respects, bilateral trade has been the bread and butter of Taiwan’s foreign diplomacy for several decades.

American Music Abroad is a people-to-people cultural exchange program designed to promote American music and culture on the global music scene. As part of the 2017 "American Music Abroad" program, Jonathan Scales Fourchestra is scheduled to visit Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Indonesia as cultural ambassadors, the AIT said. 

With six million Chinese tourists expected to travel abroad over the Lunar New Year break, China’s Jan. 27 to Feb. 2 holiday is crucial for Taiwan tour agency operator Li Chi-yueh, who relies on mainland visitors for a third of his revenue. [...] Though Tsai says Taiwan wants peace with China, Beijing suspects she seeks formal independence. “China uses its sightseeing tourists as a diplomatic weapon,” said Li.