Higher Education Internationalization in Taiwan : New Developments in the Context of Geopolitical and Social Changes

Internationalization has been a continuous effort in higher education in Taiwan. The symbolic policies to internationalize Taiwan’s universities can be divided into two phases. The first phase, between 2006 and 2017, adopted the policy of building a world-class university program, successfully promoting research internationalization in Taiwan. The second phase, which started in 2018, combined multiple policies－specifically, encouraging English-medium teaching and learning, increasing international students and academics/ professors, enhancing academic collaborations with Southeast Asian countries, and diversifying the study abroad scholarship programs into multiple channels－to continue the internationalization of higher education of Taiwan. Yet a potential challenge and side effect of internationalizing research in Taiwan’s higher education is the weakening of local research. Taiwan recognizes the importance of balancing academic research with multiple methods of international collaborations and is pursuing the internationalization of its higher education system by diversifying approaches and policies.