The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) invited Taiwanese-American university students to visit Taiwan to nurture the young generation in the overseas community and to strengthen links between second-generation Taiwanese Americans and Taiwan. A delegation comprising of 34 such students led by Delegation Leader Richard Ju visited the OCAC on June 3 and was received by Minister Wu Hsin-hsing. He first welcomed the overseas compatriot youth who put their summer vacation to good use by visiting Taiwan and thanked everyone for their support..

Minister Wu stated that this is the first time the OCAC has invited second-generation Taiwanese-American university students to visit Taiwan; the members of the delegation are all young overseas compatriots from top universities who actively promote Taiwanese culture in US society. He appreciates their support and effort in increasing Taiwanese-American university students’ sense of Taiwanese identity. He hoped that this visit would give delegation members a better understanding of Taiwan, let them learn about the land of their parents and gain in-depth knowledge of their “roots”. He said, Taiwan is not large in land area, but it performs outstandingly in various areas such as culture, economy and technology. He encouraged the visitors to actively serve as civil ambassadors for Taiwan in the US and hoped that the second-generation of overseas compatriots can use their connections in their place of residence to let the world see the many positive faces of Taiwan.

Richard Ju said he is a second-generation Taiwanese-American who grew up in the US. When in the US, his understanding of Taiwan was limited to the very basic, such as night markets and food etc. Living in the US also means that he has relatively few opportunities to visit Taiwan. He thanked the OCAC for inviting Taiwanese -American university students to visit Taiwan to see Taiwan with their own eyes.