Despite the challenges posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of International and Cross-strait (OICA) is doing its utmost to overcome restrictions and continue international exchanges with all their benefits. In addition to promoting the existing student activities, Professor Hon Man Lee, who took office in August 2021, has hosted a series of online meetings, for some of which he invited faculty members from the College of Engineering, the College of Science, the Department of Accounting, the Department of Sports, among others, to join, leading to the establishment of a partnership with universities in Indonesia and Ukraine, the general consensuses of cooperation with a few institutions, and the opportunity of promoting the International Master Program in Engineering launched by the College of Engineering. The OICA's efforts in the Fall 2021 is expected to pay off.

In response to the government's New Southbound Policy, Southeast Asia has become a priority region for the University’s international exchanges. Therefore, OICA actively participated in its higher education online forums and successfully established a partnership with UIN Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang in Indonesia. President Ming-Fei Chen was present at the online signing ceremony. In addition, the online dialogues with peer institutions in Southeast Asia were in full swing. Topics included Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), admissions, faculty and student exchanges, dual-degree programs, the International Master Program in NCUE College of Engineering, and joint research and teaching. These meetings involved the Institut Teknologi Sepulun Nopember in Indonesia, the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman in Malaysia, Kasetsart University in Thailand, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education in India, 19 Vietnamese colleges and Universities, including Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, etc. The OICA also arranged for the visiting teachers and students from Foon Yew High School of Malaysia and Buddhist Yip Kei Nam Memorial College of Hong Kong to have an online conversation with their final-year students. It is expected to promote mutual understanding and cooperation, and help facilitate the recruitment of students from abroad.

The Office has not stopped there. NCUE and Berdyansk State Pedagogical University reached a consensus on establishing a partnership, the first one in Ukraine. With Hochschule Bremen, a German partner university, Lithuanian Vilniaus kolegija (VIKO) and Sports University, and ESIC University in Spain, the Office held online talks on Chinese classes for exchange students, the international program launched by NCUE College of Engineering, and a number of cooperation plans, with a view to creating more opportunities of international exchange for teachers and students.

In a video meeting, NCUE and the University of Southern Queensland, one of its Australian partner universities, finalized the negotiation of dual-degree and student exchange programs in Accounting. The Office also reached out to America and Africa. It involved discussions on MoE’s Elite Scholarship Program, the international master’s program in NCUE College of Engineering, among other cooperation plans, with the University de Montevideo, Uruguay, and Central University, Ghana. In addition, the OICA participated in the U.S.-Taiwan Education Initiative – Forming Global Partnerships Symposium held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the American Institute in Taiwan, through which the Office discussed with the representatives from Idaho and New Mexico in the U.S. about studying abroad, MoE’s Taiwan Huayu Best Program, and promoted the Engineering College's all-English program, to enhance the University's globalization.

It is worth mentioning that Dean Lee led the staff members to participate in most of the online dialogues, indicating that these events were regarded as very important to the maintenance of international relations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dean Lee also personally received the visitors, exchanged experiences on academic cooperation in Southeast Asia, Australia and other places, and achieved fruitful results.

Since Dean Lee took office last August, the Office has been negotiating over signing MoU with a number of Mainland’s universities, most of which are first-rate and listed among the Project 985 or Project 211 universities. The Office is also promoting dual-degree programs at the master’s level in hopes of furthering quality exchange with the partners in the Mainland.

The Office and the Overseas Chinese Students Association (OCSA) held various activities as usual for foreign students during the past semester, in either an online format or a physical format, such as new student orientation, OCSA cadres camp, Tangyuan Party, Christmas parties, cultural tours, series lectures, and joined in the Campus Fair for the Christmas season. At the Christmas party hosted by the OCSA, Vice President Chien-hui Lin gave out more than 100 chocolate coins, wishing students a smooth final exam week and a happy and successful journey at NCUE. OICA Dean Lee, who participated in most of the activities, indicated that the University is further optimizing its internationalization, so it is expected that there will be more foreign students coming to study in the future.