A Taipei official has pledged to make the city “the cultural city of the Asia-Pacific,” beginning with a year-long arts festival of work from 10 nearby countries. “The Europeans know their neighbors well – they learn each others’ languages, histories, and literature and they work together to form a cultural power house. Someday, perhaps, our children will not only learn English and French and German but also confidently speak Vietnamese and Korean, read Sanskrit and write Chinese.” – China Times (Taiwan) 10/31/00