Academics working as full-time teachers at Chinese universities from next month will not be recruited by Academia Sinica in line with the law, the academy said yesterday.
In an official document announcing the policy on June 6, the academy said that starting from next month, Taiwanese working as full-time teachers at Chinese universities cannot serve as part-time researchers, former Academia Sinica researcher Liu Kung-chung (劉孔中) wrote in an op-ed published by the Chinese-language China Times yesterday.
While the academy says its policy is in line with the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), it is misinterpreting the law by saying that all Chinese universities are overseen by the Chinese Ministry of Education, Liu wrote.
Liu questioned why the academy is “attempting to sever ties with Taiwanese academics working in China” and asked whether its new policy is to “serve President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) administration’s scheme to further restrict cross-strait interaction.”
Liu demanded that Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) “clarify his position.”
The academy later yesterday confirmed that it issued such a document, saying that it has checked with the Mainland Affairs Council, which confirmed that Taiwanese cannot take up posts under the Chinese Ministry of Education or government agencies at any level.
The academy encourages academic exchanges with reciprocal terms, but such exchanges are not tantamount to holding two or more posts concurrently, it said, denying Liu’s accusation that its policy is political.
Given that employment of researchers is mainly handled by the management of individual institutes, the academy has informed all of its institutes of the policy that is to take effect next month, it added.
Previously a part-time research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institutum Iurisprudentiae, Liu teaches at Renmin University’s Law School and tendered his resignation from Academia Sinica last month before his tenure was due to end this month, the institute said.
The academy approved his resignation on Wednesday last week, it added.
Asked for comments on the matter, several academy members refrained from revealing their positions.
The US has also tightened controls over Chinese academics, especially those involved in the Recruitment Program of Global Experts, an academy member said on condition of anonymity, advising researchers to pay more attention to cross-strait exchanges.
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