On June 8th, Secretary of State for Education Alex Burghart, in answer to a question from Labour Party MP Catherine West about what steps he is taking to improve and expand education partnerships between the UK and Taiwan, described the UK’s relationship with Taiwan as strong and dynamic.

Burghart reiterated that the UK’s longstanding policy on Taiwan has not changed and that the UK has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan but continued to outline how Taiwan and the UK enjoyed “a strong, unofficial relationship, based on dynamic commercial, educational and cultural ties”. Burghart forecast that these ties would continue to grow, given that “Taiwan is the world’s 21st largest economy and the UK’s 28th largest trading partner.”

Adding further detail, Burghart explained how Taiwan has set out plans to become a bilingual society in Mandarin and English by 2030, and how his Government are supporting this ambition by “helping their efforts to ensure higher education can be taught in English, improve standards in teaching, learning and assessment of English, and build greater education links in both directions.”