A group of Taiwan students studying in China set up an association in Taipei yesterday morning, the first of its kind, to safeguard their rights and interests, Chinese-language media reported yesterday.
Founding members of the Association of Taiwan Students Studying in China (台生會) include more than 30 Taiwan students attending schools in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Tianjin, Xiamen and other major cities in China, the report said.
Chu Jung-pin (
He added that the association has yet to make progress or receive aid from relevant Taiwan authorities. Above all, Chu maintained that the association was a non-partisan group and expected all political parties in Taiwan, such as the KMT, the DPP and the PFP, to support its cause.
DPP lawmaker Hsu Chung pi-hsia (許鍾碧霞), whose son is studying in Beijing, joined the ceremony, accompanied by KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) and PFP lawmaker Diane Lee (李慶安).
Another DPP member, Shen Heng-teh (
Ting claimed it was high time a club was founded to help promote Taiwan students' rights and cross-strait rapprochement.
"Those who visit the mainland for studies are trailblazers in cross-strait ties as it's the best way to understand others' ways of thinking and to strengthen friendships with them," Ting said.
Ting added that the unsettling atmosphere across the Taiwan Strait was rooted in both sides' failure to face up to reality, the report said. Ting cited Taiwan's refusal to recognize China's academic accreditation as being impractical. One of the association's top priorities, therefore, is to urge the Taiwanese government to acknowledge degrees acquired in China.
Due to the current circumstances, the actual number of Taiwan students pursuing academic studies on the other side of the Strait remains a "puzzle." However, according to unidentified student sources, it is well-known that previously, China-bound Taiwan students, now in their 30s or 40s, would usually major in politics, Chinese herbal medicine, or economics, the report added.
Last but not least, KMT lawmaker Ting suggested that Taipei's Mainland Affairs Council (
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
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