Taiwan’s foreign ministry will send a delegation of Teen Diplomatic Envoys on a friendship tour to Australia on Thursday.
The delegation of 12 high school students will visit the cities of Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. It will provide them with an opportunity to expand their global vision and to foster understanding of Taiwan’s diplomatic missions abroad. Australia’s representative to Taiwan, Catherine Raper, was at the send-off press conference on Tuesday to speak about Australian customs.
Deputy Foreign Minister Vanessa Shih also spoke at the sendoff. She reminded the envoys that they will be representing the Republic of China (ROC), which is the official name of Taiwan.
“From now on, you no longer represent three prestigious Taiwanese high schools," said Shih.
"You are a delegation of Teen Diplomatic Envoys representing all of the ROC’s high schools, vocational schools, and junior colleges. Your performance abroad will be how our Australian friends view Taiwan’s younger generation.”
The foreign ministry has worked with the education ministry to select teen envoys since the program began in 2002. A total of 35 delegations of 140 high school students have benefited from the program, visiting cities in Europe and the United States. Nearly 500 contestants from 121 schools participated in the selection this year.