The nation's top cross-strait policy-making body disclosed for the first time yesterday that it is prepared to relax customs regulations at Kinmen to allow Chinese businesspeople to participate in a planned executive MBA program on the offshore island.
Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) yesterday revealed to the Taipei Times that the government was prepared to authorize Chinese participants of the program multiple entries into Taiwan on a single entry permit that would remain valid for either half a year or a year. Chiu explained that the permit's expiration date would be determined by the length of the program in which the participant was enrolled.
While the council currently authorizes entry into Kinmen via the "small three links" for 19 categories of professional personnel from China, regulations currently do not allow for Chinese businesspeople to make multiple entries without separate applications. In addition, businesspeople participating in educational courses such as the Executive Masters in Business Administration (EMBA) program do not fall under the existing 19 categories.
Chiu explained yesterday that it was yet to be determined whether another category would be established or if the EMBA participants would be granted entry under one of the existing categories in the future.
The EMBA program is slated to be held at a university in Kinmen and would most likely be attended by Taiwanese and Chinese businesspeople in Fujian province. According to the Ministry of Education, a technical college in Kinmen and Ming Chuan University have expressed interest in offering the program.
While no date has been set for the launch of the program, Sammuel Tseng (曾文昌), section chief of the Ministry of Education's Mainland Affairs Division told the Taipei Times yesterday that council had originally hoped to have inaugurated the program before or around Double Ten National Day.
"Right now the main obstacle lies with educational policies. The Ministry of Education has to consider the impact of certain policy changes internationally and at home. For example, if the ministry allows some of these classes to be taught by foreign teachers, it needs to consider the precedent this would set for similar programs established elsewhere in the future," Chiu said.
However, Tseng said yesterday that the ministry was prepared to implement the program, but as to when the program was to be launched, that was up to the council.
In the past, similar Taiwanese EMBA programs conducted in China had failed due to competition with local educational institutions. Tseng also pointed to instructor qualifications as a challenges for Taiwanese EMBA programs in China. He said that there are currently no such programs in China.
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