The professor of my Government and Politics in South East Asia course came up to me a few weeks back and told me it was her impression that I’ve very opinionated regarding the issue of democratization in East-Asia, especially that of Taiwan’s, and asked me whether I would be willing to review and critic a recent paper published in Foreign Affairs with the title “The Democratic Rollback - The Resurgence of the Predatory State” by Larry Diamond. First, it should be said that I usually am one of the few to speak out in class and …

Although studying for a degree in Taiwan is a constant cross-cultural academic challenge for myself and the international students I study with, I think Taiwan has great potential and is generally heading in a positive direction. For those among you considering to do a degree in Taiwan, this is probably the right time to go look into things as most application deadlines are about to end. Since I received a few emails with questions about studying in Taiwan, I’ll just point out that this blog includes some posts with background information about the topic that might help in making a decision. (Disclaimer - I pass the information as is. Since coming here to do a full degree is usually a …

Being a foreigner and studying as an international student in National Cheng Kung University at the somewhat rural city of Tainan in southern-Taiwan is nothing simple. Compared with my previous Taipei experience at the Gong-Guan Shi-Da area, I would say things here are a little bit different and they take time getting used to. Taipei folks have websites, magazines, newspapers and are generally in a somewhat international oriented environment with supporting services and information mostly available in English - while we here in Tainan don’t have all that. We also lack a …

 Which universities are the top universities in Asia? What are the best Asian university programs? How do those rank when  compared to other top universities and programs around the world? Following is a complete list according to the different rankings available around the world. Top 50 Asian Universities from Shanghai Jiao-Tung University’s Top 100 Asia Pacific Universities (name, world rank, location) :  Tokyo Univ - 20 - Japan Kyoto Univ - 22 - Japan Hebrew Univ Jerusalem - 64 - Israel Osaka Univ - 67 - Japan …

Stats do a good job of summarizing a phenomena. A few years back the Taiwanese government decided to internationalize the Taiwanese universities by pouring unbelievable funds into promoting English-based programs and research activities within Taiwanese universities, hopefully bringing in accredited scholars and promising international students. The number of scholarships available either through the Taiwan scholarship or the universities is quite remarkable.

To get a sense of how fast this is happening in Taiwan I suggest we take a close look at some stats I photographed in some events I attended. It’s a bit strange, but when I asked for the presentations with the stats afterwards I was - Taiwanese politeness style - denied. I can’t imagine why.

How about we start with …

Taiwan’s been trying to encourage foreign students to come and study in Taiwan and the number of scholarships offered are increasing. I’m currently studying for a graduate program in NCKU-Tainan-Taiwan with the National Science Council scholarship which is considered part of the more general “Taiwan scholarship” offering 30,000NT$ (equal to about 900US$) monthly for a period of 3 years. It’s a very simple and straight-forward scholarship. Two weeks ago, southern Taiwan orientation for the various Taiwan scholarship holders was held at NCKU with some entertainment and information given about the …