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Director General Peter Chen of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston, Provost Eric Link of University of Houston-Downtown, and Cadets from Central Police University posed for a group photo. |
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| D.G. Peter Chen, TECO in Houston, Commander KristineAnthony-Miller, LieutenantBradley Morefield of Houston Police Academy and professors of UHD participated in the greeting ceremony for the CPU delegation. |
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| TECO in Houston hosted a welcome dinner for CPU delegation. Assistant Chief Henry Gaw of Houston Police Department and Provost Eric Link of University of Houston-Downtown were also invited. |
The Education Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Houston welcomed a group of 42 police cadets (including two group leaders) from Central Police University (CPU) of Taiwan on January 13, 2020. The visiting group came through the Bayou Connection Program, a two-week English immersion course on policing and law enforcement studies at the Criminal Justice Training Center of University of Houston-Downtown’s (UHD). The first visit of a CPU delegation to UHD can be traced back to 2005. Over the past 15 years, nearly 400 students from CPU have visited Houston for short-term intensive English courses and 13 students have received a master’s degree. Many have broadened their horizons and gained valuable international experience. UHD has also sent student groups to Taiwan for short-term studies.
The Bayou Connection Program was established by Dr. Hsiao-Ming Wang, professor of Criminal Justice at UHD, aiming to promote faculty and cultural exchanges, as well as research cooperation regarding law enforcement and community security. In addition to the intensive English classes, UHD arranged field trips to visit Houston Police Department (HPD) and its Academy, Courts, Jails and Fire Departments for a fuller understanding of the criminal justice system in Houston.
UHD is the first university in the United States to hold the Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language with the Education Division of TECO in Houston. More than 300 students have participated since 2015. To further strengthen cooperation with UHD, the Minister of Education (MOE) invited President Juan Sanchez Muñoz and Vice President Joanne Wolfe of UHD to visit Taiwan and renew the academic cooperation agreements with the Ming Chuan University and the National University of Tainan. They also signed another academic cooperation agreement with Chinatrust Commercial Bank Business School in December 2018.
To enhance interactions between HPD and the overseas community in Houston and better protect Taiwan students and tourists, the MOE authorized a Mandarin Chinese training program and invited HPD Chief Art Acevedo to visit Taiwan in July 2018. Chief Acevedo signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a representative of the Department of International and Cross-Strait Education establishing a 3-year Mandarin language training program for federal, state, government agency and local enforcement officers in the Greater Houston Metropolitan Area.
Through the MOU, three Excellence Scholarships were offered for awardees to undertake advance Mandarin Chinese training in Taiwan for one week. Commander Kristine Anthony-Miller of the Houston Police Academy led three police officers to Taiwan in October 2019. In addition to the intensive language training, the delegation also visited the MOE, Ministry of Justice, Taipei City Police Department, and CPU.
During the greeting lunch on January 10, 2020, Director General Peter Chia-Yen Chen of TECO in Houston encouraged the CPU cadets from the Departments of Police Administration, Criminal Investigation, Public Security, Foreign Affairs Police, Maritime Police and Fire Science to embrace this opportunity to explore the diversity of the United States, broaden their horizons, and play their part in promoting academic and cultural exchanges between Taiwan and the United States in the future.
Provost Eric Link of UHD, Dean Jonathan Schwartzof Public Service College of UHD, Director Hsiao-Ming Wang of Bayou Connection, Assistant Police Chief Henry J. Gawof HPD, Commander Kristine Anthony, Lieutenant Bradley Morefield and Lieutenant Hector Garcia of Houston Police Academy participated in the welcoming celebrations. They promised to support further strengthening Huayu and law enforcement collaboration between Taiwan and the United States.