A public notice posted by the National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA) on its Web site on Thursday that congratulated itself for being named on a list of top Chinese universities sparked criticism, as students said that the university was complacent about Taiwan’s implied diminishment into a Chinese province.
The university made public a ranking of top Chinese universities published by Chinese Web site Sina.com, which listed NTUA and National Taiwan University (NTU) as two of the five “six-star universities” in the special administrative regions category that unilaterally included Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
NTUA senior Wang Yun-hsiang (王雲祥) said the university belittled itself by voluntarily endorsing the ranking, citing an earlier instance in which the university had preached political neutrality on campus.
“I am not studying at China’s National Taiwan University of Arts. I love NTUA, but it turning into a Chinese university would be unacceptable,” he said.
NTUA graduate Pan Hung-chun (潘虹均) said she was “flattered” when she first learned that the NTUA was listed as a six-star university, which placed the school on a par with top Chinese art universities.
However, she later suspected that the ranking was politically motivated, as the two Taiwanese universities on the list have “Taiwan” in their official names, she said.
Some NTUA students found the listing “surreal,” saying that the ranking was part of China’s “united front” (統戰) tactics that started by courting Taiwanese universities, she said.
In response, NTUA official Hsu Pei-tou (許北斗) said the ranking surveyed all Taiwanese universities, and NTUA simply considered it an honor to be listed as a six-star university.
Students might have their own personal opinions about the subject, but the public should regard it as the educational affair it is without political implications, he said.
“NTUA cannot prevent Sina.com from classifying it as a top Chinese university. Our perspectives differ. It suffices that we do not consider ourselves as a part of China,” he said.
Meanwhile, NTU student association chairwoman Wang Jih-hsiung (王日暄) said that NTU students also could not accept the university’s classification as a Chinese university, adding that “NTU is too Taiwanese to fall into that category and the ranking was politically motivated.”
NTU secretary-general Lin Ta-te (林達德) said NTU is not a top Chinese university, but rather a top Taiwanese university that is building its global presence.
Additional reporting by Lin Hsiao-yun
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