After blaming the “uncooperative” cross-strait policy of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration for a significant drop in the number of Chinese tourists over the past year, the nation’s China-pandering, pan-blue media have found a new subject: Chinese students.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily on Wednesday ran an “exclusive” story, citing an anonymous source as saying that the Chinese Culture University in Taipei had removed 50 Chinese students from a dormitory on the grounds that they failed to properly empty their rooms before summer vacation.
Insinuating that the school’s decision was politically motivated, the source — who claimed to have studied at the university — was quoted as saying that the school had never before removed students over failure to clean their rooms.
The story was quickly picked up by other media outlets, including Want Want China Times Group’s two main pro-China papers, the China Times and Want Daily. The Chinese Web site of China’s state-owned Global Times, huanqiu.com, also ran a story.
Contrary to claims that the move targeted only Chinese students, school authorities told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) that 22 other foreign students also received notices for failing to clean their rooms, adding that their regulations have long stipulated that students empty their rooms before heading home for winter or summer vacation.
The university also promised to give the students a chance to appeal their cases after the Ministry of Education intervened in a perceived attempt to pacify the pro-China side.
The timing of the reports seems suspicious, because just a day before, the Global Times published a feature story titled “Chinese students: why we no longer want to study in Taiwan.”
It said that close cross-strait relations and the so-called “1992 consensus” are why Chinese students study in Taiwan.
“I believe everyone has witnessed what the Tsai administration has done over the past year and more. This has undoubtedly influenced the trend of Chinese students studying in Taiwan,” it said, adding that the underlying reasons are the “discriminatory” restrictions of the so-called “three limits, six noes” policy.
Under the policy — which was implemented in 2008 under then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) — acceptance of Chinese students is limited to those from prestigious Chinese schools, the number of students is restricted to 0.1 percent of Taiwanese students and Chinese are barred from courses in pharmacy, Chinese and Western medicine, advanced technology and national security.
The six noes refers to no preferential grading on entrance exams, no effect on student enrollment opportunities for Taiwanese students, no scholarships, no off-campus work and no taking of tests for Republic of China professional certificates or civil service examinations.
However, the policy was by no means aimed at discriminating against Chinese students and was greatly relaxed during Ma’s presidency.
Calling something discriminatory does not make it so. China’s continuous attempt to pin charges against the Tsai administration for the mere sake of coercing it to toe Beijing’s line only goes to show who the real bully is.
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