seven-member delegation of Taiwanese youth is currently in Nicaragua to promote the soft power of Taiwan culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday. The delegation from Tamkang University, headed by associate professor Tseng Mao-chuan of the Spanish Department, is composed of six students from the Graduate Institute of Latin American Studies.

Fifteen students from Peking University in China started a 10-day sightseeing tour around Taiwan by bicycle Tuesday. Chairwoman of the Sports Affairs Council Tai Hsia-ling fired a starting pistol to launch the 832 kilometer ride that was organized by the council as part of a cross-strait student exchange program.

Cross-Strait relations between China and Taiwan took a dramatic and historic turn with the recent signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).

Cross-Strait relations between China and Taiwan took a dramatic and historic turn with the recent signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA). The trade liberalization deal will create closer economic linkage between Taiwan and China, but beyond increasing the flow of goods across the Taiwan Strait, there are serious political and public diplomacy aspects tied up in the trade pact.

China’s tourism to Taiwan, once banned, is now growing fast as bilateral ties improve. But with the influx of visitors comes a culture clash.

A Taiwanese youth delegation is currently on a two-week visit to El Salvador to promote academic and cultural exchanges with students at the University of El Salvador, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Thursday.

"Of course, we had in the past and also now Taiwanese students studying in Israeli leading universities, but this is the first time that Taiwanese students will benefit from our government scholarships" said Raphael Gamzou, the head of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei.

One is a chubby amateur singer with a bowl haircut, the other a vegetable seller with a big heart. Together, they may have done more to put Taiwan in an international spotlight than years of checkbook diplomacy by the previous government.