On April 11th at a ceremony in Taipei 101, German Institute Taipei awarded Dr. Bau-Tscheng Dung, vice president of Soochow University, with the German-Taiwanese Friendship Medal for his outstanding contribution in cementing German-Taiwanese relations.
Dung was among this year’s three honorees, the other two of whom were Hsin-Ju Wu, chief editor of South & North Publishing Company, and Dr. Yu-Chun Wang, a social entrepreneur. Since 2013, German-Taiwanese Friendship Medals have been given to a total of 28 winners who made great contributions in fostering and strengthening the relations between Taiwan and Germany.
Martin Eberts, director of German Institute Taipei, mentioned that as a Doctor of Laws at University of Bonn, Germany, Dung has offered considerable assistance to Germany both academically and administratively. For many years, Dung has advocated greater cooperation between Taiwan and Germany, sparing no effort to promote bilateral exchange and development between the two countries.
More specifically, Eberts thanked Dung for his major role in the success of Taiwan-German Railway Forum held in both countries not long ago. With his help, the representatives of Taiwan High Speed Rail, Taiwan Railways Administration, and Taipei Metro had the opportunity to meet with railway experts from Germany and exchange information. Eberts also showed his gratitude to Dung for offering valuable advice when he took office as the director general of German Institute Taipei.
Dung said that Germany has always been like a home for him, where he got married and started his family with kids. While he considered this Friendship Medal a true and important honor, he wanted to express his gratitude to Eberts, who has been offered tremendous help, and members in Taiwanisch- Deutscher Verein for their long-time dedication to Taiwan-Germany affairs.
Dung is a Class-65 graduate and an outstanding alumnus of Soochow’s Department of Law. He had earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in laws in Germany between 1982 to 1988, during which he received scholarship from the Foundation of Free Democratic Party. After the completion of his study, he taught at Soochow University and National Chengchi University before serving as deputy chief in Examination Yuan for over seven years. In 2015, he founded Taiwanisch-Deutscher Verein, the most influential and representative non-government organization in promoting relations between Taiwan and Germany, and is currently serving as director.