A group of academics from Taiwan and China met yesterday at President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) Alma Mater, National Taiwan University (NTU) for a discussion on how to assist the new government make a smooth transition to power and cope with political affairs.
The conference, titled "NTU's expectations of the new government and the new century," was hosted by NTU President Chen Wei-jao (陳維昭) and brought together leading analysts to discuss balanced distribution of power between administrative branches, the role of the Constitution in the DPP-led government and the most effective means to assuage strained cross-strait relations.
NTU law professor Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮), in his discussion, highlighted the thorny issues that will be encountered by the new government, including disputes about the Constitution, the heavy bias toward the central government in its relations with local governments, the tense relations between Taiwan and China, and the challenges in eradicating the so-called "black gold" (黑金) problem.
According to Yeh, the new government must tackle these issues with caution, so that the power transition to the DPP will be perceived as a favorable turning point, rather than a crisis.
Yeh's NTU colleague Li Heng-hsi (
With more than 40 years of research in constitutionalism under his belt, Li said he still could not make out the real essence of the ROC Constitution. "It will be a test of the new leaders' wisdom to demonstrate how they can minimize people's anxiety, with such a jumbled Constitution, as it goes through the first transfer of power in 55 years," added Li.
Another NTU scholar, Hsu Tzong-li (
"How to respond to China's `one China' principle will be the most troubling subject for Chen and the new government," said Hsu.
However, Hsu added that no matter which model Chen favors -- "the special state-to-state" model laid out by former president Lee Teng-hui (
A Chinese scholar in attendance said that war across the Taiwan Strait could only be avoided under the condition that Taiwan completely accepted China's proposals.
"Unification will have to be achieved as soon as possible under China's promise that it will leave Taiwan's military and governmental organizations intact," she said.
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Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
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