Culture Minister Li Yuan (李遠) began his tour of England on Sunday, September 6, marking his first visit to the country as culture minister, where he promoted Taiwanese work and toured museums for inspiration on Taiwan's ongoing cultural projects. The UK is the first stop on Li's second-ever European tour, after which he will proceed to France to attend the Taiwan-France Culture Awards.

Li said he chose England due to the success of the novel Taiwan Travelogue, which won the International Booker Prize earlier this year. The minister hopes to capitalize on that momentum to expand the Taiwanese publishing foothold to include comics, picture books, performing arts, and more, and learn from England's experience in youth centers to inform the construction of the National Children's Future Museum.

Li described the trip as selfishly motivated – saying he hoped to find collaborative partnerships across many fields. He said, “I came to the UK because I'm ambitious – I thought whether it's performing arts, children's museums, literature, or publishing, I wanted to find a corresponding organization for each, and see if we could establish a framework during this trip for continued future collaboration.”

He also planned a visit to the Young V&A – a children's museum with a special focus on families and youth from one to fourteen years old. Since the Culture Ministry is promoting the National Children's Future Museum, Li was particularly interested in how the space incorporated youth needs into its design. Children's participation has been a core ideal of Li's in designing the new facility back in Taiwan, and the Young V&A's child-centered approach can be used as a reference for planning and designing Taiwan's own museum. 

The minister is expected to stay five days in the UK before traveling to France to participate in the Taiwan-France Cultural Awards. In addition to promoting Taiwanese creative works, Li said he hopes to invite European writers, curators, and cultural institutions to Taiwan, and lay the groundwork for future long-lasting Taiwan-European creative exchange and cooperation.