National Tsing Hua University was yesterday found to have signed a letter of agreement with Chinese universities, promising prospective Chinese students that “one China, one Taiwan” would not be included in its course material.
The disclosure came one day after Shih Hsin University was found to have signed a similar document, constituting a possible breach of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例).
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) yesterday posted a photograph of a leaked “letter of commitment” signed by Tsing Hua, which states that “talented Chinese high-school graduates” who sign up for its courses will receive only professional education, adding that the school guarantees no mentions of cross-strait relations or “one Taiwan, one China” would be made in class.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Chen said she obtained the photograph from Professional Technology Temple (PTT), the nation’s biggest online academic bulletin board, and asked the Ministry of Education to ascertain the document’s legitimacy.
The ministry confirmed that the letter was issued by Tsing Hua, she said.
“If even a national university has caved in, Shih Hsin University will not be an ‘isolated case’ like the ministry said,” Chen said, adding that she suspects Beijing pressured the universities to sign the letters as a prerequisite for enrolling Chinese students.
The promise that no mentions of “one China, one Taiwan” would be made in class is a violation of the act and academic freedom, Chen said, urging the ministry to find out how many schools have signed such agreements.
During a question-and-answer session with Premier Lin Chuan (林全) at the legislature, DPP Legislator Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純) said that although the letter bore Tsing Hua’s seal, the word “national” was missing from the university’s title.
The freedom of speech and academic freedoms are upheld in Taiwan, and the expression of any political belief is regarded as a part of the freedom of speech, Lin said, adding that it is the nation’s underlying principle that political beliefs would not be allowed to infringe upon, and “hijack” academic freedom.
The premier said that while he hopes cross-strait academic exchanges will continue, he believes that no political views should be imposed upon the exchanges between educational institutions.
Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said Tsing Hua has contravened the act by signing an agreement whose contents breached legal boundaries set forth in the act.
“We feel that the demand by concerned Chinese institutions is entirely unnecessary and inappropriate,” Mainland Affairs Council Minister Katharine Chang (張小月) said. “Such an action is detrimental and does not help cross-strait academic exchanges in any way. We urge related Chinese institutions to stop this kind of behavior.”
Yang Min-ling (楊敏玲), the head of the ministry’s Department of Cross-strait and International Education, said that a preliminary investigation found that apart from Shih Hsin and Tsing Hua, at least four other schools — Chung Hua University, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chaoyang University of Technology and Providence University — have signed similar agreements.
Tsing Hua said it has not signed an agreement endorsing Beijing’s “one China” principle, but one that adheres to the principle that politics should not interfere in academic exchanges, adding that the agreement has served to consolidate the act.
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