Remarks by AIT Director Stephen M. Young at the Third Anniversary of the Taichung American Corner and the Launch of Virtual Branch Office Taichung

OT0807E | Date: 2008-05-15

Mayor Hu, Director Yang, Director Huang, and all our Taichung friends:

It is a pleasure to be with you once again to celebrate the third anniversary of the Taichung American Corner.

Thank you, Mayor Hu, for all you and your colleagues have done to ensure its success.

I'd also like to once again recognize National Taichung Library Director, Mr. Yang, and his staffs for their invaluable contributions to establishing and developing this American Corner.

It is one of the best American Corners in all of Asia, which is appropriate due to Taichung's importance in linking the people of America and Taiwan.

The United States and Taichung share a long and close history.

In fact, AIT's Chinese Language and Area Studies School was established in Taichung in 1955, and a generation of officers studied and lived in Taichung.

Today, over 3000 Americans live in and around Taichung, and thousands of travelers from the United States visit the Taichung area every year.

We are not going to rest on our laurels, however. Today, I am pleased to announce that AIT is expanding its presence in central Taiwan by opening a "Virtual Branch Office" for Taichung.

The Taichung VBO includes a webpage with information about upcoming AIT events in central Taiwan, as well as links to American citizen services and the date for the next ACS visit.

However, the Virtual Branch Office is not just a webpage. It is also about people.

Although AIT maintains strong relationships with the people of Taichung, through both our activities at the American Corner, as well as visits by AIT officers and cultural activities that we help to organize in central Taiwan.

Through the Virtual Branch Office, we hope to both expand our activities in central Taiwan and help raise the profile of Taichung in the United States.