9 Latin American political elites, including the Director General of Foreign Policy of Directorate-General of Bilateral Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, Victor Humberto Ramirez Scaglia, came to Taiwan on March 5 to attend the in-person courses of the “E-Learning Executive Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies” offered by the Department of Global Politics and Economics of Tamkang University. In addition to the courses and exchanges, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a luncheon, and TKU also held a welcome tea party to introduce our faculty and campus. After a week of in-person classes, a farewell banquet was held before they departed on the 11th.

The students come from various Latin American countries and are all public service elites. They are respectively: Victor Humberto Ramirez Scaglia, Director General of Foreign Policy of Directorate-General of Bilateral Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, Luis Pablo Rodriguez Mondal, Deputy Director, Jorge Rafael Archila Ruiz, Consul General of Guatemala in North Carolina, Elena Barrientos Reyes de Vargas, Professional Consultant at the Legal and Treaty Department of the Guatemalan MFA, Rossana Isabel Hermoza Cardozo, Director of Human Resources at the Ministry of National Intelligence of Paraguay, Leiby Melissa Torres Zalavarria de Ortiz, Socioeconomic Administrative Manager at the Office of Mayor’s Wife of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Maria Jose Oviedo Pelaez, Consultant at the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works of Uruguay, Felipe Antonio Pino Latorre, Advisor to Valdo Mirosevic, a member of parliament from Chile, and Isabel Maria Enrriquze Jaya, a member of congress from Ecuador.

The initiator who spearheaded the establishment of this program, Vice President for International Affairs, Dr. Hsiao-Chuan Chen, expressed gratitude to the MFA for its support over the years. In 2010, planning began to establish the E-Learning Master’s Program for Asia Studies at the Institute of Asia Studies. After a year and a half of preparation, the program officially began in March 2012, becoming the first cross-border and distance-learning master’s program in the country. It has become a shining example of diplomatic success and a highlight of Tamkang University.

In just one week, 12 hours of intensive courses were taught, including “research methodology”, “Taiwan and Asia-Pacific Security Issues”, “Diplomacy in the Context of Northeast Asia”, “East Asia-Latin America Cooperation and Development”, “The Cultural Development of Taiwan”. The students also made use of their spare time to visit important places of interest in their minds, such as the National Palace Museum and Fort Santo Domingo to learn about Taiwanese culture. At night, they went to Ningxia Night Market to experience Taiwanese snacks and enjoyed tea together.