Berlin, Oct. 18 (CNA) Taiwan recently opened five Sinology resource centers in central and eastern European countries in the hope of increasing the exposure of Taiwanese research in Chinese studies, the head of the National Central Library (NCL) said Tuesday.
Branches of the NCL-run "Taiwan Resource Center for Chinese Studies" (TRCCS) were opened by NCL Director-General Tseng Shu-hsien (曾淑賢) during her recent trip to the five countries, including at Vilnius University in Lithuania, she said.
The other schools that are hosting the centers are the University of Tartu in Estonia, Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, Comenius University in Slovakia and Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary, according to Tseng.
Beyond the centers, the NCL wants to expand interest in Taiwan in general and is planning to open a "Taiwan Corner" in the national libraries of Estonia and Lithuania to display Taiwan-themed books, she said.
According to Tseng, the resource centers were first established in 2012 in response to the government's goal of promoting "Chinese culture with Taiwanese characteristics" through the publication of research by Taiwanese academics.
The 37 centers set up around the world as of September 2021 have served as sources of knowledge in the field of Sinology at their host universities and as a driving force in promoting research by Taiwanese scholars at places of learning worldwide, Tseng said.
Through the centers, researchers can find Sinology-related materials both online and from about 500-1,000 publications from Taiwan, ranging from topics in Taiwanese literature to the Constitution, she said.
The recent addition of centers in Europe was particularly timely, Tseng said, because academics from those countries who have done research in Taiwan have praised the quality of Taiwanese works but could not access the materials when they returned home.
