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Council weighing up Kinmen exchange program

The Mainland Affairs Council is studying the possibility of allowing Chinese nationals employed by Taiwanese companies in China's Fujian Province to take educational programs on Kinmen.

Council Vice Chairman Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said the council should mount a response to nine educational exchange measures announced by Xiamen's education bureau in April by offering its own program.

"The [Xiamen] measure is aimed at luring young Taiwanese students with money to study there and lay the groundwork for [China's] long-term political objectives," Liu said.

With Beijing planning to offer financial incentives to recruit young Taiwanese students to study across the Taiwan Strait, Liu said the council had to map out a plan so that students would not be "politically polluted" by the Chinese Communist Party and that a "correct concept" of cross-strait educational exchanges could be set up.

To that end, Liu said, it was important to provide more channels to Chinese students so that they could have more opportunities to take part in cross-strait exchange programs in Taiwan and learn more about the nation's democratic development.

One measure Liu proposed encourages the children of China-based Taiwanese businesspeople to study in Kinmen and Matsu.

But the government could also allow Chinese nationals employed by Taiwanese companies in Fujian to take part.

Liu said the council was also planning to complete supplementary measures for four types of cross-strait charter flights by the end of this week.

Liu said the Ministry of Transportation and Communications had presented detailed plans for the flight services to the council.

The council announced on June 14 that it would allow more cross-strait charter flights for cargo and passengers. Under the agreement, China-based Taiwanese companies will be allowed -- on a case-by-case basis -- to apply for cargo charter flights to ship equipment, machinery and components between Taiwan and factories in China.

In addition, passenger charter flights that now offer services during the Lunar New Year holiday will be expanded to include three other festivals: Tomb-Sweeping Day, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The charter flights will also include cross-strait flights for medical and humanitarian purposes in the event of emergencies.
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