Excerpt: The government of Taiwan (the ROC) recently unveiled an ambitious campaign to establish Mandarin–English bilingualism by 2030. The impetus for the rapid advancement of English has been articulated within the discursive framework of neoliberal competition. The National Development Council (NDC), which heads the campaign, explains that the primary objectives of the “Bilingual Nation” policy are “‘elevating national competitiveness’ and ‘cultivating people’s English proficiency.'”1 English is thus positioned as a mechanism by which to strengthen Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global marketplace. Since Taiwan has never been a formal colonial territory of an English-speaking empire, its attempt to establish Mandarin– English bilingualism might be read as a purely pragmatic economic maneuver to achieve the “national competitiveness” expressed by the NDC.