Happy 75th Anniversary, TAS!

AmCham Taiwan extends its hearty congratulations to the Taipei American School (TAS) on the 75th anniversary of its founding in 1949.

Expat families in this country deeply appreciate the excellent educational opportunities provided in Taiwan for their children – not only by TAS but also by American schools in other parts of the island as well as the Taipei European, Japanese, and Korean schools. The availability of high-standard international education is absolutely essential for maintaining Taiwan’s position as a stellar location for foreign investment.

For AmCham, the relationship with TAS is particularly significant, and not just because both are U.S.-oriented institutions. In 1979, when the U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced the “derecognition” of the Republic of China in Taiwan to establish diplomatic ties with Beijing, the future of TAS was suddenly thrown into uncertainty. Until then the school operated as a contractor to the U.S. military under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) tied to the U.S.-Taiwan Mutual Defense Treaty. Termination of the treaty meant that TAS would need a new legal status to continue operating – and the proposed solution by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education (MOE) was for TAS to be treated as a purely domestic entity under MOE’s authority.

AmCham stepped up and played a central role in negotiating a new and satisfactory arrangement for TAS, as well as for such other community institutions as the American Club, the previously military-run English-language radio station that was to become ICRT, and a youth activities program to cover everything from scouting to Little League baseball to ballet lessons. Robert P. Parker, the Chamber’s leader at the time, has written that TAS was the most important of these projects, as well as the most difficult because of MOE’s insistence that the school come under its jurisdiction.

It took several years to work out a solution. During that time, the Chamber leadership worked closely with TAS Assistant Superintendent Ira B. Weislow to pursue possible options in numerous meetings with Taiwanese and American officials. Eventually, agreement was reached for the non-profit Taipei American School Foundation that TAS had formed in the U.S. state of Delaware to become a registered contractor to the then newly established American Institute in Taiwan. The arrangement assured independence for the parent-led TAS board to set the curriculum, tuition rates, and other policies necessary for the school to excel as a center of learning in line with the needs of Taipei’s foreign residents.

AmCham was also instrumental in negotiating the rights and leases enabling TAS to move from its Shilin campus – an area vulnerable to frequent flooding from the adjacent Keelung River – to its current location in Tianmu, formerly the site of U.S. military housing.

In the decades since, TAS has won a well-earned reputation for academic excellence, demonstrated by its ability to attract outstanding faculty members and to see its graduates admitted to world-leading universities. As a requirement for graduation, students must complete courses in public speaking, computer science, and robotics. At the same time, the school’s programs in music, theater, athletics, and other subjects help ensure a well-rounded educational experience.

AmCham is proud of the role it played at a crucial time in TAS’s history and proud of the school’s accomplishments over the years.