Four ICLP students participated in the 36th annual all-Taiwan Politics Cup Debate from May 29 through 31. This year’s issue asked whether Taiwan should sign the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with mainland China, a controversial topic in contemporary politics. Despite competing against native Chinese speakers with political science backgrounds, the ICLP team shone, besting groups from both NTU and National Chengchi University’s renowned political science departments in early rounds. On Saturday morning ICLP students Angel Ayala, Wesley Hsu, Shirlene Yee and Jeffrey Hartsough headed to National Chengchi University, the alma mater of many of Taiwan’s political elite, accompanied by fifteen or so teachers, administrators, staff and students. ICLP won all three rounds the first day, and one of three rounds on Sunday. They were eliminated after losing to students from Taiwan’s preeminent foreign affairs department. Judges praised ICLP students for their eloquence, noting that they tended to use more formal diction than Taiwanese students. During the fifth round Hartsough was in particular complimented on his debating skills. "The most valuable part of the experience," remarked Hsu, "was presenting a unique perspective that Taiwanese students and judges hadn't really considered before and discussing this with them after each round." The four have all taken part in ICLP’s newly-designed Debate Chinese course this semester. Under the guidance of Fan Meei-yuan in addition to practicing specialized vocabulary, they used Chinese to acquire and refine the variety of skills needed in formal debating.