The Schull Yang International Experience Award, supported by Joseph Schull (BA ‘82, MA ’85) and Anna Yang (BCL, LLB ’88), helps undergraduate and graduate students gain first hand international experience related to their fields of study. The award provides full or partial funding to assist students with tuition, travel, and other expenses related to their international experience. The Schull Yang International Experience Award is part of the McGill International Experience Awards. For more information, click here.
The Internship Offices Network is pleased to announce the selected McGill student for the 2016 summer internship at the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, and recipient of the Schull Yang International Experience Award.
Caroline Wesley, BA Political Science and International Development Studies
Caroline will be interning at the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, which represents Canadian interests and citizens living in Taiwan. Her research interests have constellated towards Comparative East Asian Politics and Diplomacy, and so she is elated to work alongside the General Relations Division of the CTOT as their General Analyst. She is impassioned by the United Nations and as such, speaks four of their six operating languages: English, French, Spanish, and Mandarin. She is an active leader within the Model United Nations community and will be on the dais for the upcoming SSUNS 2016 and McMUN 2017 conferences. Caroline is excited to employ her passion for Taiwanese diplomacy, politics, culture, and language as she broadens her insight into Canadian-Taiwanese relations.
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During the summer of 2016, I was honoured to work alongside the team of dedicated and passionate Canadians and Taiwanese working at the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei (CTOT), Taiwan, for an internship as their Political Analyst Intern. As a BA student majoring in Political Science and International Development Studies with a minor in East Asian Language and Literature, I have had a passion for international affairs and cultural exchange from a young age. I have a strong interest in Canada’s Global Affairs as well as the United Nations, and thus hold the long-term goal of learning the UN’s 6 operating languages in order to complement my career goal of working in the diplomatic field.
These past two summers, I was also incredibly fortunate to have received scholarships to participate in intensive Chinese-language learning programs in Taipei and Shantou, China, which have further complemented my Mandarin studies at McGill as well as my interests in the Asia-Pacific region. In undertaking this position at the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, I hoped to broaden my insight into Canadian relations with Asia, as well as to gain meaningful experience in the day-to-day process of working in Canada’s Global Affairs Division as well as to expand my knowledge on a variety of local and international issues.
In the absence of formal diplomatic ties with the Taiwanese government, Canada maintains a strong relationship with Taiwan through the CTOT. It is a crucial organization due to its facilitation of cooperation in a host of sectors, including but not limited to: trade and investment, educational exchanges, arts and culture, aboriginal affairs, and public policy issues. As is evidenced by the large variety of matters in which CTOT works with, my position as Political Analyst Intern was equally varied in my duties. Having arrived on the tail-end of a historical presidential election cycle, in which the new president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party was elected, one of my first tasks was to create and routinely update briefing documents on all administrative appointments and legislative proposals made by the new leadership. My academic background in East Asian and comparative politics at McGill was essential in my ongoing research for these briefing materials.
I was also tasked with attending academic and cultural conferences for the CTOT, and drafted several informational reports on their subject matters’ relevance for the Global Affairs division, some of which were distributed to Canadian embassies Asia-wide. A learning objective I achieved during this internship was the development of research skills in both French and Mandarin, as well as interviewing skills for the subjects I would report on. I was delighted to report on topics that were both within and beyond my research interests, such as LGBTQ rights, Aboriginal affairs, human rights, maritime security, and internet governance. Reports and briefings were complemented by meetings and events with Taiwanese and Canadian academics, governmental officials, legislators, and business owners during the course of my internship.
In fact, one of the highlights of my internship was my participation in two Taiwanese legislative assemblies, in which I represented Canada alongside diplomats from various other embassies. Participating in political events was an initial challenge for me, as my knowledge of political terms in Mandarin was limited, but I learned the lesson that flexibility and determination to improve through practice is key. Ultimately, I became comfortable meeting Taiwanese politicians after a few meetings, and subsequently made meaningful contributions to these sessions.
The CTOT also strongly values creative endeavours, and tasked me with the revitalization of their project in which they highlight the stories of long-standing Canadian residents of Taiwan. I created a refreshing and visually compelling website to best tell these important stories. As Global Affairs Canada is increasingly aware of the importance of visual media in storytelling and information-sharing, I created several videos documenting CTOT events, as well as a video calling attention to Canadian technology being used in Taiwan. These videos were widely disseminated, and had a reach of an audience of over 25,000 people.
For my participation in this internship, for which I will receive three credits, I will also be preparing a research paper under the supervision of Professor Richard Schultz on the topic of the Politics of Internet Governance and Human Rights. This internship has been an invaluable contribution to my pursuit of an education in international affairs and human rights, and for that, I am immeasurably grateful to those who have made my internship such a success. Due to the high cost of short-time living in Taipei, my unforgettable experiences at the CTOT would not have been possible without the generous International Experience Award provided by Mr. Joseph Schull and Ms. Anna Yang. Their dedication to this internship program has played a pivotal role in enriching the educations of so many students like me, and I am forever beholden to their generosity.
