Three university associations threw their support behind the government’s plan to allow local schools to admit Chinese students.
Association of National Universities of Taiwan (ANUT) chairman Lee Si-chen (李嗣涔) told a press conference that allowing Chinese college students to study in Taiwan would benefit the public and the nation.
“It would benefit our higher education. It would also have a positive influence on our young people and students,” he said, adding that if Chinese students were allowed to study in Taiwan, they would have goodwill for their Taiwanese alma maters afterward.
“For example, President Ma [Ying-jeou, 馬英九] is a Harvard alumnus. I graduated from Stanford. Many world leaders also graduated from schools in the US. That’s why they tend to identify with American culture,” said Lee, who is president of National Taiwan University (NTU).
“We hope that one day a Chinese premier will also be an alumnus of NTU,” he said.
Lee said allowing Chinese students to study in Taiwan would help stabilize cross-strait relations.
The Ministry of Education had said that Chinese graduate students would be able to attend local schools starting next February, while undergraduates would be allowed the following fall if the necessary legislation clears the legislature by the end of this month.
A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) boycott, however, has halted review of the bills. The party is concerned Taiwanese students would suffer if their Chinese counterparts are allowed to study here.
Association for Private Universities and Colleges board member Ku Chia-heng (谷家恆) said Chinese students could have a positive influence on their Taiwanese counterparts.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS