Minister of Education Wu Ching-ji (吳清基) yesterday defended a policy by the ministry that would impose a financial threshold for Chinese seeking to study in Taiwan.
Approached for comment at the ministry, Wu dismissed concerns by university presidents that setting financial requirements would deter Chinese from pursuing studies in Taiwan.
Students who seek to study abroad must present documents proving their financial status to the governments of the countries where they wish to study, Wu said, adding that this was a global trend.
Establishing such a threshold would also help prevent Chinese students from working illegally in Taiwan, Wu said.
“Besides, many people in China are wealthy nowadays. They have come and purchased high-end products in Taiwan. We don’t have to worry about them,” Wu said.
The ministry said on Tuesday that local universities would likely welcome their first groups of Chinese students in September.
The ministry’s Regulations Governing the Enrollment of People from the Mainland Area in Taiwanese Colleges and Above (大陸地區人民來台就讀專科以上學校辦法), which was ratified by the Executive Yuan last week, stipulates that Chinese students who seek to study in Taiwanese schools must present proof that they have more than 100,000 yuan (US$15,000) in savings.
Chinese students are barred from working part-time or full-time during their stay in Taiwan and cannot work as research assistants, the regulations say.
Chinese students also cannot receive National Health Insurance (NHI) coverage, the regulations say, and academic departments as well as graduate institutes are barred from recruiting Chinese students when teachers in those departments or institutes are involved in projects related to national security.
Shih Hsin University (SHU) president Lai Ting-ming (賴鼎銘) called the regulations unfair.
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