This article was first published on Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS).
Mandarin education has become an important part of Taiwan’s niche diplomacy as the country seeks to boost its international profile.
Key takeaways:
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Taiwan has adopted a multi-pronged approach, investing substantial funds and resources in Mandarin education for foreigners in Taiwan and abroad to establish a distinct model from China.
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Taiwan’s Mandarin education policy plays a crucial role in strengthening its soft power and ties with like-minded partners to expand Taiwan’s international visibility and influence.
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As an instrument of niche diplomacy, the policy not only promotes Mandarin education but also showcases Taiwan’s commitment to democratic values, human rights, and cultural diversity.
Language education as a soft power tool
As geopolitical competition intensifies and globalization deepens, small and medium-sized states face a key strategic challenge: how to enhance their international influence and agency despite limited diplomatic resources. Rather than relying on military and economic power, as major powers do, many smaller countries are choosing to build their own strengths in specific areas such as culture, education, technology, or humanitarian aid, thereby forming what is known as niche diplomacy. Niche diplomacy and soft power are especially important for an actor like Taiwan, since the self-governed island maintains, as of 2026, formal diplomatic relations with only 12 countries.
Education, particularly vocational training, higher education, and language instruction, plays a vital role in sustainable development, since the consistent quality of human capital is central to national competitiveness and socioeconomic progress. Language education, in particular, has long been an arena of soft-power competition, as exemplified by the global promotion of Mandarin education programs.
Chinese languages comprise diverse Sinitic languages, with Standard Mandarin serving as the official language of China, spoken by over 80% of mainland China’s population and over 65% of Taiwan’s population. Mandarin education serves as a diplomatic and cultural arena where China and Taiwan demonstrate their shifting competitive dynamics and the value of their respective cultural exports.
With the importance of Mandarin in international politics and trade, the technology sector, and cultural exchange having grown in recent years, the demand for Mandarin education and interest in Chinese culture have continued to rise in various countries. Since the early 2000s, China has promoted Mandarin as a soft power tool. As a result, much of the global debate has centered on the Confucius Institutes, which use language as a diplomatic tool to promote Mandarin and facilitate cultural exchange. Beijing established Confucius Institutes in over 160 countries, including over a dozen in Central and Eastern Europe. These institutes are fully funded and administered by the Chinese International Education Foundation, a government-organized non-governmental organization under China’s Ministry of Education.
Taiwan’s programs of Mandarin education
Taiwan began promoting Mandarin language education for foreigners in the mid-1950s. As China was closed off to most of the Western world, Taiwan was the main destination for learning the language in the 1950s and 1970s, when the Kuomintang positioned itself as the preserver of “orthodox Chinese culture” and continued to use traditional characters, whereas China had implemented character simplification. The landscape changed dramatically with China’s opening, leading to an influx of foreign students. In response to the new developments in 2013, the Taiwanese government launched a language education strategy to professionalize and standardize the course offering.
Under President Tsai Ing-wen (2016–2024) of the Democratic Progressive Party, promoting Mandarin language education became “key in Taiwan’s cultural diplomacy.” Compared with China, Taiwan offers a compelling, differentiated model, including cultural distinctiveness and an open political and societal environment, giving it a unique competitive advantage in Mandarin education, particularly among students from Western countries.
Mandarin education in Taiwan is not only a tool for promoting culture but has also gradually evolved into a key diplomatic strategy for expanding international contacts, enhancing the island’s image, and deepening friendly ties with partner countries. As Taiwan gains international prominence and deepens relations with many countries in the West, the space for language cooperation widens.
To meet the challenge, Taiwan has begun focusing on overseas Mandarin education through both intergovernmental cooperation and school-to-school cooperation. These have been implemented through a concerted effort by three government agencies: the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC), and the International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF). The relevant institutes comprise overseas Mandarin learning centers, overseas schools, and partner universities and organizations in 38 countries across the world. ICDF mainly covers the countries with formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan (Republic of China), while MOE and OCAC focus predominantly on countries with informal diplomatic relations, especially in Europe and the United States.
Based on the blueprint of expanding Taiwan’s international visibility through a niche diplomacy that foregrounds pluralism and mutual learning, Taiwan tailors Mandarin education to specific regions and partnerships, aiming to build networks, trust, and shared understanding. Thus, this program goes deliberately well beyond language learning itself.
Mandarin education as a diplomatic instrument
From a diplomatic strategy perspective, Taiwan’s Mandarin education initiatives exemplify the typical characteristics of niche diplomacy. They transcend the limits of formal diplomatic relations by establishing Mandarin learning centers, offering scholarships, publishing Mandarin teaching materials, training overseas teachers, and attracting international students to Taiwan.
In recent years, mainstream Mandarin teaching materials have strongly highlighted Taiwan’s democratic values, commitment to human rights, and cultural diversity. For example, in books 4 and 5 of A Course in Contemporary Chinese, designed for students with upper-intermediate proficiency, topics and lessons on cultural diversity, freedom of speech, capitalism, immigration, and same-sex marriage are included. Significant emphasis is placed on Taiwan’s connections with like-minded countries and its unique characteristics. Let’s Learn Mandarin, published in several European languages, focuses on Taiwan’s folk culture, traditions, customs, and landscapes.
While the direct impact is difficult to measure, Taiwan’s Mandarin education is an important tool that helps to enhance Taiwan’s soft power. Students who visit Taiwan to learn Mandarin are exposed to Taiwan’s democratic system, multiculturalism, and vibrant civil society whilst studying the language offered at over 50 university language institutes across the island. In 2023, about 36,000 international students studied Mandarin in Taiwan, up 30% from the previous year. This is a comparatively high number, as China attracted about 380,000 international students in 2024/25 across all disciplines.
Compared with short-term interactions, interpersonal relationships forged through educational exchanges have a longer-lasting impact and are more effective at fostering a favorable impression of and identification with Taiwan. Taiwan’s Mandarin education serves not only as a tool for cultural diplomacy but also as a crucial driver of economic cooperation, tourism, and talent exchange. Through these channels, Taipei builds stable, enduring, and institutionalized networks of cultural and personal ties that extend into campuses, communities, and civil society organizations worldwide, creating resilient international links.
What’s next for Taiwan’s Mandarin education?
Taiwan still faces several challenges in developing Mandarin education into a more influential niche diplomatic strategy. The first is the pressure of competition: China has long invested substantial resources in promoting Mandarin education globally and holds a clear advantage in terms of scale and funding. With the strength of its economy and international influence, China can be a more attractive partner for Mandarin education. As Taiwan cannot compete with China head-on, it will need to focus on playing to its strengths and offering a different model that meets the needs of Mandarin learners.
The second challenge is that current policies on Mandarin education involve multiple agencies in Taiwan, including those responsible for education, foreign affairs, and overseas community affairs, creating coordination challenges. Taiwan should further integrate the resources of government departments, academic institutions and civil society organizations to form a more comprehensive international promotion network. Strengthening inter-departmental cooperation would help to improve the efficiency of resource utilization and enhance international visibility.
Given the constraints of the current diplomatic environment, Mandarin education offers Taiwan a soft-power-oriented pathway with significant developmental potential. If Taiwan continues to enhance the distinctive features and international reach of its Mandarin education, alongside its advocacy of human rights and democracy and its leadership in semiconductors, it can generate a synergistic effect that converts these strengths into diplomatic assets and expands its international influence.