The Ministry of Education (MOE) last week sent a letter to Taiwanese universities urging them to remind Chinese students vandalism or violence could lead to the cancelation of their entry permits, a ministry official said yesterday.
The letter follows a spate of incidents at campus “Lennon walls,” where messages of support for Hong Kong have led to political conflict, often pitting students from Taiwan and Hong Kong against students and tourists from China.
The decision to send the letter was made following the deportation on Tuesday last week of a Chinese tourist who was filmed tearing down messages at a Lennon wall at National Taiwan University, Department of Higher Education Director Chu Chun-chang (朱俊章) said.
Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times
The letter aims to create awareness on the part of Chinese students studying in Taiwan and avoid a situation in which a student’s ignorance of local laws could jeopardize their academic standing, he said.
The ministry cited Article 11 of the Regulations Governing the Enrollment of People from the Mainland Area in Taiwanese Colleges and Above (大陸地區人民來台就讀專科以上學校辦法), which stipulates that infractions of the law by Chinese students are punishable by cancelation of their entry permit.
Article 18 of the regulations stipulates that not only legal infractions, but also breaches of school rules that lead to expulsion would result in the cancelation of a student’s entry permit, Chu said.
Despite the letter’s specific focus on Chinese students, Chu said that students caught breaking school rules face consequences equally and impartially, regardless of whether they are Taiwanese or come from Hong Kong or China.
Since the start of the school year last month, the ministry has faced pressure over how to deal with conflicts related to university Lennon walls.
At the time, the ministry summoned 26 universities with large numbers of students from China and Hong Kong, asking them to establish response teams to prevent potential conflicts, protect free speech and create a space for rational dialogue on the issue, Chu said.
However, as the conflicts have escalated, the ministry has urged campus authorities to take an increasingly active approach, working not only on prevention, but also providing guidance and legal assistance to students following campus conflicts, he said.
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