Amid local media reports that Beijing has banned Chinese students from studying in Taiwan, the Ministry of Education yesterday said that it was not aware of a decision.
It said it would ask the China-based University Entrance Committee for Mainland Students to clarify whether China was planning to issue a ban — or to restrict the number of students allowed to travel to Taiwan each year for study.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily yesterday reported that China is planning to restrict students who wanted to study in Taiwan because the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was now in power.
The newspaper said it had received a tip from a reader, surnamed Chen (陳), who said a Chinese student seeking permission to study in Taiwan had been told by his school in Jilin Province to “be prepared not to go to Taiwan this semester.”
“Due to changing circumstances across the [Taiwan] Strait, [China’s] Taiwan Affairs Office has issued an order for schools to stop processing all applications for study in Taiwan pending further notification by the office,” the paper said.
The newspaper also printed a screenshot of a text message from the Chinese student to a compatriot in Taiwan, saying that he “cannot come to Taiwan.”
If the report is confirmed, it would be another significant change in China’s cross-strait policy since the DPP won the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections, following the 31 percent year on year drop in Chinese tourist arrivals last month.
A China-based Taiwanese businessman operating an educational information exchange platform was cited in the report as saying that since the election of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Chinese education authorities at all levels have been asked to stop exchanges with Taiwan.
The Apple Daily said that the Taiwan Affairs Office has ordered a suspension of all cross-strait educational exchanges over the next four years, adding that when such exchanges would resume depended on the DPP government’s cross-strait policy.
The head of the Association of Private Universities and Colleges said he has sent a text message to member universities asking them to try to verify the matter with their Chinese counterparts in terms of educational exchanges.
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