The Ministry of Education is coming under fire from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers for helping facilitate summer exchange programs between Chinese and Taiwanese schools, which they claim are part of China’s “united front” tactics.
The ministry on Thursday promoted the exchanges in its online newsletter, and the National Museum of Natural Science is among the institutions involved in the exchanges, but the ministry should be worried about China “infiltrating schools” across the nation, DPP legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) and Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書) said on Monday.
National Taiwan Normal University, National Chengchi University and National Tsing Hua University are among the public schools that have been promoting summer camps on their Web sites since March, the legislators said.
Soochow University has a list of 28 activities and Chinese Culture University lists 33 on their Web sites, among other private schools, the legislators said.
Chinese Culture University is even using the slogan “Hearts connected and hands joined, both sides of the Strait feel like compatriots” to promote its programs, they said.
The China Youth Corps is participating in a program organized by the China Youth Culture Foundation for Mainland Studies, which would see 50 Taiwanese enrolled in film and television study programs visiting China for eight days for just NT$5,000 per person, including airfare, they said.
A summer science camp for high-school students sponsored by China’s Association for Science and Technology and the Chinese Ministry of Education would be attended by 220 students and teachers from 40 Taiwanese schools, they said.
Several top schools, such as Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, Taipei First Girls’ High School and Taichung Municipal Taichung First Senior High School, were asked by China to help choose students for the camp, the legislators said.
A “nature exploration” camp that has become an annual cross-strait event, which was held last year at the Museum of Natural History in Zhejiang, China, is scheduled to be held at the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung, with the Chinese government subsidizing the airfare for Chinese students, the legislators said.
The director of the museum in Zhejiang, Yan Hongming (嚴洪明), was quoted by Chinese media last year as saying: “The people of both sides of the Taiwan Strait are of a common origin, and the blood of youth is thicker than water. I hope to see increased acknowledgment of [both sides’ shared] ethnicity,” the lawmakers said.
The camp event at the Taichung museum has been organized by the museum’s cultural and educational foundation, which will also decide the activities, the ministry said, adding that the government has no involvement.
The “nature exploration” camp program has been run for 10 years and allows Chinese students visiting Taiwan to experience freedom and democracy, and Taiwanese students visiting China to see archeological sites and artifacts, the ministry said.
It was a “normal cross-strait cultural and educational exchange,” the ministry said.
However, Wang said that the eight years of former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration caused education administrators to lose awareness of national security concerns.
Correcting this lapse would be one of the most important tasks of future education ministers, he said.
Huang said that China’s subsidization of travel expenses for Taiwanese students and Chinese officials meeting with the students from the moment they arrive in China are clear proof that such exchanges are being used for “united front” aims.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
HOTEL HIRING: An official said that hoteliers could begin hiring migrant workers next year, but must adhere to a rule requiring a NT$2,000 salary hike for Taiwanese The government is to allow the hospitality industry to recruit mid-level migrant workers for housekeeping and three other lines of work after the Executive Yuan yesterday approved a proposal by the Ministry of Labor. A shortage of workers at hotels and accommodation facilities was discussed at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee. A 2023 survey conducted by the Tourism Administration found that Taiwan’s lodging industry was short of about 6,600 housekeeping and cleaning workers, the agency said in a report to the committee. The shortage of workers in the industry is being studied, the report said. Hotel and Lodging Division Deputy Director Cheng
TOKYO SUMMIT: The new Japanese PM’s words have demonstrated Japan’s ‘firm position on urging the prioritization of cross-strait peace,’ the foreign ministry said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday thanked US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi for supporting peace in the Taiwan Strait, a day after the two at a summit in Tokyo emphasized the importance of regional stability and ahead of a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea today. The previous day’s meeting was the first time Takaichi had met with the US leader since becoming Japanese prime minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Since taking office on Tuesday last week, Takaichi has urged the international community to
RSS