The other day, Mr. Duterte, President of the Republic of the Philippines, sent a letter from the Malacanang Palace, expressing his congratulations on the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Confucius Institute jointly established by FNU and Angeles University Foundation (AUF) in the Philippines.
Mr. Duterte said in his letter, “The Confucius Institute of AUF in the Philippines has become a vital partner of the Philippine government over the years and has made remarkable achievements in promoting unity and friendship between the two peoples of China and the Philippines through educational, cultural, and artistic exchanges and regional cooperation.” He stressed, “On the occasion of the 10th anniversary, I sincerely hope that FNU can endeavor to innovate Chinese teaching methods and tap resources of Chinese teaching so that Chinese can be easier for our teachers to teach and for our students to learn, which helps them improve their intercultural communication skills and realize their self-worth.” And he also wrote, “With the efforts of the Confucius Institute, I am confident that our education system will be upgraded in the days to come and our scholars and young students will be fully prepared for the challenges posed by the rapid development of the world.”
Besides President of the Philippines Mr. Duterte, Foreign Secretary of the Philippines Mr. Locsin, Education Secretary of the Philippines Mr. Margitoris, President of the Senate Mr. Vicente, Speaker of the House of Representatives Mr. Velasco, Chinese Ambassador to the Republic of the Philippines Mr. Huang Xilian, and Mr. Lin Yuqing, president of the Chinese International Education Foundation and of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII), also sent letters of congratulation on the event, and spoke highly of the efforts made by the Confucius Institute to promote the friendship between China and the Philippines, as well as its contributions in education, culture and art.
It is learned that founded in 2010, the Confucius Institute of AUF was inaugurated by Arroyo, then President of the Philippines. Over the past decade, for the Confucius Institute, its teaching scale has been expanding and teaching level has been constantly improving, and it has been making remarkable achievements in the construction of teaching centers. With the reputation as walking Confucius Institute, the Confucius Institute of AUF contributes to the mutual understanding between the peoples of China and the Philippines, and plays a positive role in facilitating diverse cultural exchanges and mutual learning between China and the Philippines. The Confucius Institute of AUF has won the title of Global Advanced Confucius Institute for three times, and was awarded Excellent Test Center for Chinese Examination in 2019. In 2014, the Philippines enrolled the first batch of students who majored in Chinese Language Teaching. In 2019, the joint project of developing 300 local Masters of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages was officially launched and in the same year the Confucius Institute and the Union of Governors of the Philippines signed an agreement on the cooperative project of Chinese language. To date, the Confucius Institute of AUF has 105 teaching centers and 3 Confucius Classrooms in 11 districts of the Philippines. It mainly offers a range of courses such as Chinese course for Chinese Language Teaching Majors, elective of college Chinese, training course for Chinese teachers, Happy Chinese course for middle school students and Chinese culture course. The total number of students is nearly 30,000, including nearly 20,000 students who attend credit courses. Meanwhile, the Confucius Institute of AUF also offers courses with linguistic and cultural characteristics, such as “Experience China”, “Elementary Chinese” and “the Belt and Road”, for the Philippine governmental agencies, including the Presidential Office, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Education, the Bureau of Immigration, the Bureau of Customs and the National Library. Over the past decade, the Confucius Institute of AUF has organized more than 1,000 cultural events for the whole society in the Philippines, giving millions of Filipinos opportunities to have close contact with Chinese culture. These events have been frequently reported by CCTV, Xinhua News Agency, Guangming Online, MANILA TIME, INQUIRER and other mainstream media at home and abroad.
(Translated by Qiu Sisong/ Reviewed by Xie Xiujuan)