In order to strengthen the support network for Taiwanese students studying and living in the United States, the 33rd “Conference of Presidents of Chinese Student Associations in the Southwest United States” was held on September 27th (Saturday) at the Overseas Chinese Cultural and Educational Center in Los Angeles. Approximately 30 student representatives from 9 universities in Hawaii, Arizona, and Southern California, as well as 11 student associations, attended the conference to discuss issues such as cross-school exchanges, emergency assistance, fraud prevention, and career development that are of utmost concern to international students.
Deputy Consul General Chen Lingxin of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles stated that the current number of Taiwanese students in the United States has reached 23,000, with over 3,000 in the Southwest region. Many important service messages from the office must be conveyed through the assistance of various student associations. She encouraged students to not only focus on their professional knowledge but also work on cultivating cross-cultural understanding, communication skills, and leadership, while reminding everyone to maintain close contact with their families in Taiwan.
Chief of the Education Section at the office, Li Zhenghan, not only detailed various scholarships and study resources but also specially issued a “Reference Manual for Student Association Presidents” to provide practical guidance for the operation and resource utilization of student associations from different universities. He hoped that through this conference, the interaction and cooperation among student associations at various schools could be enhanced, allowing the executives to fully utilize their service functions and support more Taiwanese students upon their return to campus.
In the face of a continuing trend of fraudulent cases, Police Secretary Yang Lijing shared the latest examples to raise awareness among international students. She mentioned a heartbreaking incident where a Taiwanese female student was scammed of $330,000 by a criminal group using AI deepfake technology during her green card application process. She emphasized that no law enforcement agency would ever ask individuals to sign confidentiality agreements.
Deputy Chief of the Consular Affairs Section, Chen Weiling, explained emergency assistance services and traffic safety issues. She earnestly reminded students to refrain from dialing emergency assistance hotlines unless faced with significant emergencies to ensure that limited resources and time can be allocated to those in dire need of help.
The conference also invited the President of the Chinese Taiwanese United States Career Development Association (CTUSA), Wei Zhongyan, to deliver a special lecture on “Cross-border Vision X Future Career: How International Students Can Build Competitiveness in the United States,” to help attendees plan their competitiveness and future career direction in the U.S. from a global perspective.
Participating schools included the University of Southern California, California Institute of Technology, University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, Irvine, University of California, Riverside, Arizona State University, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, among other prominent educational institutions.