The London School of Economics (LSE) is the academic turf of privileged Chinese Communist Party (CCP) youth, Ministry of Education (MOE) officials said yesterday.
Director of the ministry's Bureau of International Cultural and Educational Relations Chang Chin-sheng (張欽勝) made the remarks after a clash between Chinese and Taiwanese students reportedly marred Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng's (杜正勝) speech at the school on Thursday.
Tu, an LSE graduate, delivered a speech on Taiwan's educational reform at the invitation of his alma mater.
During the speech, Chinese students raised signs reading, "Stop cultural brainwashing" and "Taiwan is a part of China," and engaged in shouting matches with Taiwanese students, according to local media.
The LSE was well-known for protecting free speech and had thus allowed its Chinese students to picket the speech on the condition that they not impede the presentation, Chang added.
"I wouldn't say that all Chinese students at LSE are privileged party youth, but certainly many of them are," bureau secretary Robin Lu (
Lu added that 400 to 500 Chinese students were currently studying at the prominent school, compared to 40 Taiwanese LSE students.
Holding a press conference at the ministry yesterday, officials alleged that the school's young, jet set Chinese communists were ambitious and rising fast through the party's ranks.
According to a ministry press release, the protests at Tu's speech were fleeting and didn't stop his presentation.
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