China allows return of foreign airlines after US escalation

Beijing is to ease a ban on foreign airlines starting on Monday next week, changing course one day after the administration of US President Donald Trump demanded that China reopen to US airlines or face curbs on its own carriers flying passengers to the US. Foreign airlines excluded from an earlier pact would be able to operate one commercial passenger flight to China per week, the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration said. It did not name any countries or carriers, but the move opens up a chance for US airlines to return for the first time in four months. While the timing might have been coincidental, it appeared as a concession from China just as tensions between the superpowers are intensifying. The nations are locked in a tussle that began over trade, but escalated to include Beijing’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its treatment of Hong Kong. “China and the US should use this opportunity to restore high-level and diplomatic communications as soon as possible,” Nanjing University Institute of International Studies director Zhu Feng (朱峰) said. “Both sides should cut short the hawkish and emotional rhetoric, as they’re against the business interests of both.” Flights can land in 37 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus first emerged. That list could change in the future, the agency said. If no passengers on a particular route test positive for the coronavirus for three consecutive weeks, the operating airline can increase services to twice per week, it said. However, a route would be suspended for a week if five passengers on the same flight tested positive, and if 10 test positive, the route would be halted for four weeks, it added. China already allowed flights from some foreign airlines under a policy introduced in March that limited them to one trip per week

MOFA reflects on aftermath of protests

STANDING FOR DEMOCRACY: Taiwan is against discrimination, Joanne Ou said, drawing distinctions between the 1989 protests in Beijing, and those in Hong Kong and the US

The government has faith in the US’ democratic institutions and judicial system in the handling of the alleged police killing of an African-American man, and people should not forget the advocates for democracy sacrificed in the Tienanmen Square Massacre 31 years ago, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. While thousands of people in the US have been protesting against the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after a white police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck, US judicial authorities have launched investigations into the case, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a regular news briefing in Taipei when asked for comment on the protests. Asked by reporters whether the ministry condemns violent actions by US police, Ou said the ministry believes that as a democracy based on the rule of law, the US would deliver the proper punishments to the policemen involved in the case. Democracy pushes governments to face problems by communicating with their people to stop discrimination and injustice, which is something that does not happen under totalitarian regimes, she said. Taiwan is opposed to any forms of discrimination, and no nations know better than Taiwan how it feels to be discriminated against and isolated, Ou said. Hopefully, the international community can take this opportunity to remove all forms of discrimination, injustice, deprivation of human rights and institutionalized violence in different corners of the world, she added. While the ministry has issued a “red alert” on Sunday warning against travel to those US states most affected by the protests, “No incidents of Taiwanese living in the US being injured due to the protests had been reported,” she said. The ministry commemorated the 31 anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre by publicizing enlargements of photographs taken in the square and nearby on June 4 and 5, 1989, including one of

By Lu Yi-hsuan and Dennis Xie

Groups mark massacre with warning

TIANANMEN SQUARE: Taiwan should let the perpetrators of the massacre know that it remembers, as Hong Kong’s annual vigil has been banned, the DPP’s Fan Yun said

Human rights advocates yesterday cautioned the global community against China’s expanding totalitarianism in Hong Kong and elsewhere, as they marked the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. The New School for Democracy held a forum attended by lawmakers, academics and human rights advocates. The school had invited Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members to the forum, but they said they could not comply with the schedule, school chairman Tseng Chien-yuan (曾建元) said. For the first time, Hong Kongers are this year banned from holding the annual June 4 Tiananmen vigil in Victoria Park, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) said, adding that it used to be the most significant event marking the massacre’s anniversary among ethnic Chinese. Whether the Hong Kong government banned the event to prevent mass gatherings amid the COVID-19 pandemic or for political reasons, “refusing to forget” and letting the perpetrators know “we remember” is important, she said. As a “global citizen” that hopes to rejoin the global community, Taiwan should demonstrate its democratic values by expressing support for Hong Kongers and remembering the massacre, as Taiwan might not maintain its democracy and freedoms if Chinese totalitarianism continues to expand, she said. Remembering the massacre and its victims is “a war between remembrance and oblivion,” said National Tsing Hua University associate professor of sociology Chen Ming-chi (陳明祺), who resigned as deputy minister of the Mainland Affairs Council on May 20. Remembering the massacre in Taiwan is meaningful, as it protects Taiwan’s democracy and resists China’s expanding totalitarianism, he said. While Beijing hopes that people will forget the atrocity, Taiwanese should continue to remind people that tanks ran over democracy activists, students and citizens in the massacre, Chen said. The Chinese Communist Party is now extending its violence to Hong Kong, he said, adding that this could also happen in other parts of the world. Taiwan

By Lin Chia-nan

UK’s Johnson offers millions in HK visas

MATTER OF CONSCIENCE: The British foreign secretary said he had also reached out to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US about opening their doors to Hong Kongers

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday said that he would offer millions of Hong Kongers visas and a possible route to UK citizenship if China persists with its national security legislation for the territory. “Many people in Hong Kong fear their way of life — which China pledged to uphold — is under threat,” he wrote in an article for the Times and the South China Morning Post. “If China proceeds to justify their fears, then Britain could not in good conscience shrug our shoulders and walk away; instead we will honour our obligations and provide an alternative,” he wrote. About 350,000 people in Hong Kong currently hold British National Overseas (BNO) passports, which allow visa-free access to Britain for up to six months, Johnson wrote. Another 2.5 million people would be eligible to apply for one. “If China imposes its national security law, the British government will change our immigration rules and allow any holder of these passports from Hong Kong to come to the UK for a renewable period of 12 months and be given further immigration rights, including the right to work, which could place them on a route to citizenship,” he wrote. “This would amount to one of the biggest changes to our visa system in history,” he added. The new legislation was proposed after a wave of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, and approved by China’s National People’s Congress as necessary to tackling “terrorism” and “separatism.” Opponents fear it will lead to political oppression in the territory, eroding freedoms and autonomy supposedly guaranteed in the 1997 handover from Britain to China. Johnson said the Hong Kong legislation would “curtail its freedoms and dramatically erode its autonomy.” If implemented, “Britain would then have no choice but to uphold our profound ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong,” he wrote. London has already

More Taiwanese against China: poll

Seventy-three percent of Taiwanese do not consider the Chinese government a friend, a poll released on Tuesday by Academia Sinica showed — the highest figure since the poll started in 2012. The poll, conducted by the China Impact Study thematic research team of Academia Sinica’s Institute of Sociology, asked respondents whether they agreed with the statement that “the Chinese government is a friend of Taiwan.” Seventy-three percent disagreed, up from 58 percent of respondents in a similar poll in May last year. When broken down into age groups, the poll showed that 84 percent of respondents aged 18 to 34 disagreed with the statement, followed by people aged 35 to 49 (78 percent), 50 to 64 (75 percent) and people aged 65 or older (75 percent). Seventy-nine percent of respondents with a college degree or above disagreed with the statement, while the ratio was 74 percent for high-school or vocational high-school graduates or below. Younger Taiwanese tend to be more discontent with the Chinese government, as it has turned its back on democracy and freedom, and disrespected the sovereignty of Taiwan, Academia Sinica Institute of Sociology researcher Jay Chen (陳志柔) said. More than half, or 54 percent, of respondents who identified themselves as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters disagreed with the statement, the poll found. Respondents who support the New Power Party (NPP) disagreed with the statement most at 97 percent. They were followed by those who support the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) at 88 percent and those who support the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) at 81 percent, the survey showed. Some factors from last year might have contributed to the poll results, such as the US-China trade dispute, the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) continuous attempts to impose a “one country, two systems” framework on Taiwan, Chen said. President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration

By Chung Li-hua, Dennis Xie and Jake Chung

Chunghwa Telecom first to obtain a 5G license

Chunghwa Telecom Co (CHT, 中華電信) yesterday became the nation’s first telecom to secure a 5G license after the National Communications Commission approved its application. The license allows the nation’s largest telecom to build the new system using the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) and 28GHz frequency bands. CHT has already built more than 250 cell sites, the required minimum to launch a 5G service, NCC spokesman Hsiao Chi-hung (蕭祈宏) said, adding that the commission reviewed the company’s business plan and information security plan, and inspected its facilities before issuing the license. According to the Regulations for Administration of Mobile Broadband Businesses (行動寬頻業務管理規則), the telecom should launch a 5G service within six months of receiving the license. “It can launch the service whenever it is ready,” Hsiao said. CHT chairman Hsieh Chi-mau (謝繼茂) told a shareholders’ meeting last week that the telecom could launch its 5G service on July 1. Asked about CHT’s proposed monthly fees for its 5G service, the commission said it would be given such information after the telecom launches the service. The company built a majority of its cell sites using the 3.5GHz frequency band, as the facilities developed for this frequency band were already available for use, the commission said. The telecom’s cell sites are mainly located in the six special municipalities — Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung — it said. Hsiao said that the NCC has also completed inspections of 5G facilities built by Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), adding that it could secure a 5G license at the weekly commissioners’ meeting next week. Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) and Taiwan Star Telecom Co (台灣之星) are still building the base stations needed to launch a 5G service and have not had their facilities inspected by the NCC, he said. The commission has yet to approve Asia Pacific

By Shelley Shan

US protesters defy curfews as looting, violence subsides

Protesters defied curfews across the US as leaders scrambled to stem anger over police racism. Standoffs between police and demonstrators stretched into the night in cities from New York City to Los Angeles over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African American, whose killing has brought once-in-a-generation protests to the nation for the past week. However, there were fewer reports of the looting and violence that had soured street demonstrations in previous nights. Tens of thousands earlier on Tuesday gathered in Houston to pay a hometown tribute to Floyd, who grew up in the Texas city and is to be buried there next week. “Today is ... about George Floyd’s family — we want them to know that George did not die in vain,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told an estimated 60,000 people. A tearful Roxie Washington, the mother of Floyd’s six-year-old daughter, Gianna, told a news conference that she wanted justice. “I’m here for my baby and I’m here for George, because I want justice for him. I want justice for him because he was good. No matter what anybody thinks,” she said. In New York City, which on Tuesday prolonged its first curfew since World War II for the full week, reporters saw hundreds refusing to go home after the 8pm cutoff, instead chanting slogans and peacefully walking the streets in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Hours after the curfew, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that it was a “very calm situation,” a day after several Manhattan luxury stores were looted. “So far, the curfew is certainly helping, based on everything I’ve seen in Brooklyn and Manhattan over the last three hours,” he wrote on Twitter. Minnesota took one of the first concrete actions to address the grievances behind the uprising, which began after Floyd’s death on Monday last week in the state’s largest city, Minneapolis. The

Virus Outbreak: Cabinet shares stimulus coupon details

CASH BOOST: Foreign spouses with residency permits are also eligible for the coupons, which can be bought at post offices or linked to digital payment options

Stimulus coupons for Taiwanese and foreign spouses with residency permits can be ordered starting on July 1 and can be used from July 15 to Dec. 31, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. Aimed at boosting domestic spending, the coupons worth NT$3,000 (US$100.04) are to cost NT$1,000. “For our consumers, this is a very good deal as they get three times as much value for their money,” Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told a news conference in Taipei. While the coupons are to have a wide range of uses, including at department stores, restaurants, book stores, night markets, beauty and hair salons, hotels, and to purchase travel and concert tickets, they cannot be used to pay for online purchases, taxes, fines, cigarettes, stock bonds, insurance, credit card loans, pensions, gift cards or to store value. “Each of the more than 23 million Taiwanese is eligible for a coupon; so are the 150,000 foreign and Chinese spouses with residency permits in Taiwan,” Su said, adding that to benefit the most people, the government has not set an age limit. The coupons are to come in paper and digital form, with the latter comprising mobile payments, electronic tickets and credit cards. “Similar to the system for mask purchases, people can purchase the coupons at post offices upon presenting their National Health Insurance cards, starting on July 15,” Minister Without Portfolio Audrey Tang (唐鳳) said. At NT$1,000 per unit, the coupons are to contain four coupons worth NT$500 each and five coupons worth NT$200 each. Coupons ordered before the start date can be claimed after July 15 at the nation’s four convenience store chains: 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, OK Mart and Hi-Life, Tang said. Consumers can also choose a digital payment option, Tang said. “From July 1, people can choose to [link their coupon order to] either their credit card, a mobile payment service or electronic ticket,

By Natasha Li

Virus Outbreak: Immigration agency lists visa extension conditions

The National Immigration Agency yesterday announced conditions that foreign nationals in Taiwan must meet to apply for a special visa extension after reaching the maximum stay of 180 days on various visas. As part of tightened border controls to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 21 granted an automatic 30-day visa extension for foreigners who entered Taiwan on or before that date with a visa waiver, visitor’s visa or landing visa. It did so again on April 17, and on May 18. However, the total duration of their stay could not exceed 180 days, beginning from the day of entry, the ministry said at the time. The agency yesterday said people who meet certain conditions could apply for special extensions. The conditions include cases where flights back to the foreign national’s home country are suspended, or where the foreigner’s spouse, registered same-sex partner, parents or underage children have household registration or hold residency certificates in Taiwan, the agency said. People who entered the nation on a foreign passport, but have household registration in Taiwan and Republic of China citizenship, can apply, too, it said. Foreign nationals in situations where it is necessary for them to stay could qualify after a review by authorities, it added. Foreign nationals who wish to apply should prepare the relevant paperwork and file their application at the agency’s service stations nationwide, the agency said. The extension for each application is 30 days, it added.

By Huang Hsin-po and Dennis Xie

Virus Outbreak: Hong Kong extends gathering ban

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) yesterday expressed concern over the latest COVID-19 outbreak in the territory, after a cluster of nine people in the same public housing building tested positive for the virus in the past few days, ending a streak of nearly two weeks without locally transmitted cases. Hong Kong said that it would implement a two-week extension of social distancing measures, including a ban on public gatherings of more than eight people, to June 18. The territory’s entry restrictions would also remain in place until Sept. 18 for foreign non-residents, with the exception of those who have stayed in Taiwan, mainland China and Macau for 14 days prior to their arrival in Hong Kong. Residents of those places are also allowed into the territory if they have not traveled elsewhere prior to their arrival. Lam also criticized the “double standards” of foreign governments regarding national security, pointing to the unrest in the US as an example of how attitudes differ when protests hit home. “We have recently seen these kind of double standards most clearly with the riots in the United States,” Lam said. “We can see how local authorities have reacted, but then last year when we had similar riots in Hong Kong, what was their position?” The US, the UK and some other Western democracies sharply criticized police crackdowns on anti-government protests in Hong Kong last year. Lam pointed to more recent criticism of imminent national security legislation that many foreign politicians have characterized as Beijing eroding freedoms promised to Hong Kong. “They take their own country’s national security very seriously, but for the security of our country, especially the situation in Hong Kong, they are looking at it through tinted glasses,” she said. Lam is to lead a delegation of senior Hong Kong officials to Beijing today to present her

Tsai lauds launch of nation’s largest patrol ship

INDIGENOUS PROGRAM: The ‘Chiayi’ can withstand level 10 winds and undertake missions of up to 10,000 nautical miles, while carrying one Sikorsky S-70C helicopter

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday touted the nation’s indigenous ship program as being successful as she presided over a ceremony in Kaohsiung for the launch of the first of the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) planned fleet of four 4,000-tonne frigates. According to the Ocean Affairs Council, the ship was named Chiayi (嘉義) based on the council’s naming regulations for coast guard ships, adding that “Chiayi,” which catches more fish than any other county or city, was an apt name for the ship with the largest tonnage in the CGA. Built by CSBC Corp, Taiwan (CSBC, 台灣國際造船), the ship has professional-grade medical facilities, as well as a negative-pressure isolation ward and a surgery room, to meet disease prevention regulations, the council said. The council said that normal sick beds on the ship could also be fitted with negative pressure covers, to decrease chances of infection. The ship is also capable of carrying one Sikorsky S-70C helicopter, which could ferry sick patients to medical establishments on land and would increase the ship’s patrol capabilities, it said. Capable of withstanding level 10 winds and undertaking long missions of up to 10,000 nautical miles (18,520km), the Chiayi and the other three ships would be able to deliver disease prevention materials to nearby countries, and help with humanitarian aid, the council said. The Chiayi is expected to be deployed under the CGA’s central Taiwan branch. In her speech, Tsai said that the addition of the ship would increase mission efficacy and improve safety for CGA personnel. The ship’s launch shows that the indigenous ship program is successful, that Taiwan is serious about bolstering its national defense capabilities and marks the beginning of a new era for the national defense industry, she said. Tsai said that she wanted to thank all who have contributed to the program’s success and the CGA’s personnel, who oversee the

By Su Yung-yao and Jake Chung

Trump threatens to mobilize military against US protests

US President Donald Trump on Monday vowed to order a military crackdown on once-in-a-generation protests gripping the US, saying that he was sending thousands of troops onto the streets of the capital and threatening to deploy soldiers to states unable to regain control. The dramatic escalation came a week after the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed when a white police officer knelt on his neck, leading to the worst civil unrest in decades in New York, Los Angeles and dozens of other US cities. In Missouri, police early yesterday were trying to bring the city of St Louis under control after a night of looting and violence in which four officers were shot, St Louis Police Commissioner Colonel John Hayden said, adding that their injuries were not life-threatening. “Mr Floyd was killed somewhere else and they’re tearing up cities all across the country,” a visibly emotional Hayden said. Trump struck a martial tone in a nationwide address on Monday from the White House garden, as police fired tear gas on peaceful protesters outside the fence. “I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults and the wanton destruction of property,” Trump said. He slammed the previous night’s unrest in Washington as a “total disgrace” and called on governors to “dominate the streets.” “If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,” he said, denouncing “acts of domestic terror.” Despite the president’s rhetoric, Monday’s protests appeared largely peaceful in major cities, although some looting was reported in New York and Los Angeles. However, as he spoke, law enforcement, including

Virus Outbreak: National ranking when borders reopen

SAFETY RISK: The government is working to categorize countries based on their COVID-19 cases and prevention efforts, which would determine quarantine periods

The government plans to rank countries based on their COVID-19 risks to determine how to treat tourists and other travelers from those nations once Taiwan reopens its borders, but it is still working out the categories, a top health official told lawmakers yesterday. “We would divide countries around the world into several categories. One category would comprise those countries with very few confirmed COVID-19 cases, such as New Zealand and Palau. Travelers from the countries in this category would only need to practice self-health management,” Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) told a Legislative Yuan seminar hosted by Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers Mark Ho (何志偉) and Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧). “Tourists from low-risk countries, such as Vietnam and Brunei, might be asked to undergo quarantine for five to six days after entering the country,” he said. Taiwan has not had any confirmed domestic COVID-19 cases for 50 consecutive days, but there are now more than 6 million confirmed cases in the rest of the world, with the number rising in South America and Southeast Asia, Chuang said. This means the government would face tremendous pressure when it decides to reopen Taiwan’s borders, he said. “The most important thing is whether the countries whose tourists are allowed to enter Taiwan without having to follow quarantine requirements would allow Taiwanese tourists to do the same there. We need to work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to sort out the issues,” he said. It is also crucial that people maintain the habit of wearing masks so that the nation can quickly and effectively contain a potential outbreak after the borders are reopened, he added. Ho and Su have proposed that the government form an international travel alliance with other nations that have relatively few confirmed cases of COVID-19. They cited Japan as an example, which

By Shelley Shan

Virus Outbreak: Professor calls for Taiwan to start antibody testing

Tony Chen (陳秀熙), a professor and vice dean of National Taiwan University’s (NTU) College of Public Health, yesterday said that Taiwan should start conducting antibody testing to discover the prevalence of COVID-19 in the nation. Reviewing the college’s 17th weekly report on COVID-19, Chen introduced an “index for easing lockdown and border control regulations,” calculated using a formula that includes the nation’s total number of confirmed cases, recovered cases and mortality rate — the number of deaths divided by the number of confirmed cases. An index score of less than one indicates that a country can consider gradually easing its restrictions, while those with an index score of more than one could still be recovering from a COVID-19 outbreak or still have a serious COVID-19 situation, he said. Countries with the lowest index scores include Iceland at 0.01, New Zealand at 0.03 and Taiwan at 0.06, Chen said. However, some of the countries or areas that Taiwanese most like to visit still have relatively high index scores, including the US at 4.07, the Philippines at 3.57 and Canada at 1.11, he said. Other countries or areas with high index scores included Bolivia at 11, central Africa at 37, France at 2.25, New York State at 5.03 and Sweden at 7.33, Chen’s data showed. After introducing some social distancing or digital contact tracing apps used in other counties as a reference, Chen said: “Taiwan does not have to conduct wide-scale antibody testing for COVID-19, but we must conduct the tests on several groups of people.” He said the antibody testing is necessary to understand the prevalence of the disease and how long immunity lasts, to calculate the herd immunity among different groups of people and to consider how to gradually ease social distancing measures. Chen said that seven groups of people should be tested first: confirmed cases; people under

By Lee I-chia

US Unrest: Trump, Barr to meet as protests smoulder in cities

US President Donald Trump was yesterday scheduled to meet with his top law enforcement officer behind closed doors as cities nationwide awoke from a smoldering weekend of violent protests over race and policing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chaotic demonstrations from Washington to Los Angeles swelled from peaceful protests — sparked by the death on Monday last week of a black man, George Floyd, while in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota — into scenes of violence that drew US National Guard troops in at least 15 states and Washington. Dozens of cities across the US faced curfews at a level not seen since the riots following the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, as fires burned near the White House and stores were looted in New York City and other major cities. Floyd’s death is the latest in a string of similar incidents involving unarmed black men and women in recent years, which have raised an outcry over excessive police force and racism, and re-ignited outrage across a politically and racially divided country just months before the Nov. 3 presidential election. Video footage showed a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of Floyd, 46, for nearly nine minutes before he died. Trump has made no major public statement to address the crisis, but has issued a flurry of tweets, describing protesters as “thugs” and urging mayors and governors to “get tough.” He has also threatened to utilize the US military, but his national security adviser on Sunday said that the administration would not yet invoke federal control over the National Guard. Trump was yesterday scheduled to hold a call with governors, as well as law enforcement and national security officials, after his Oval Office meeting with US Attorney General Bill Barr. Critics have accused Trump, who is seeking re-election, of further stoking

China threatens to ‘counter-attack’ US over HK curbs

VIGIL BANNED: Police in the territory yesterday refused permission for the annual June 4 Tiananmen vigil, the first time in three decades it will not be held

Beijing yesterday warned Washington of retaliation after US President Donald Trump announced restrictions on Chinese students in the US in protest against new national security legislation for Hong Kong. China also said ongoing unrest in the US highlighted its severe problems of racism and police violence — and exposed Washington’s double standards in supporting Hong Kong’s protesters. The two sides have clashed repeatedly on different topics and on Friday Trump said that he would restrict Chinese graduate students and start reversing the special status enjoyed by Hong Kong in customs and other areas. Beijing reacted angrily to the moves, saying it was “detrimental to both sides.” “Any words and actions that harm the interests of China will be met with counter-attacks on the Chinese side,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) told a press briefing in Beijing. Washington’s measures “seriously interfere in China’s internal affairs and undermine US-China relations,” he said. Zhao seized on ongoing anti-racism protests in the US to accuse the US of hypocrisy, calling racism “a chronic disease of American society.” Washington’s response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of police was a “textbook example of its world-famous double standards,” Zhao said. “Why does the US lionize the so-called Hong Kong independence and black violence elements as heroes and activists, while calling people who protest against racism ‘rioters,’” Zhao said. Meanwhile, Hong Kong police yesterday banned the annual June 4 vigil marking the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, citing the coronavirus pandemic, the first time the gathering has been halted in three decades. The police, in a letter to organizers, said the vigil would violate social-distancing rules that ban gatherings of more than eight people. Organizer Lee Cheuk-yan (李卓人), chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, expressed disappointment and urged people

MOE wants more African students for degree programs

The Ministry of Education (MOE) is planning new programs aimed at recruiting students from Africa for undergraduate and graduate studies, sources said on Sunday. The four-year plan, with a budget of NT$500 million (US$16.69 million), would include the formation of an alliance of local colleges and universities, the sources added. Ministry data show that 1,399 students from Africa studied in Taiwan last year, 1.07 percent of all foreign students. A memorandum of understanding on collaborating on education programs has been signed between several Taiwanese institutions and their counterparts in the Kingdom of Eswatini, South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Ethiopia and Nigeria, ministry data showed. One of the planned programs has been specifically designed to attract lecturers and other teachers at colleges in Africa to undertake graduate studies for master’s degrees or doctorates and then, with funding from the ministry, establish undergraduate programs in their home countries in a number of fields in which Taiwan has a leading position, or for training of professionals needed for priority industries for countries with collaboration agreements. Another initiative would see the establishment of double-degree programs between Taiwanese and African institutions, along with short-term training courses — which could be cross-disciplinary, or for specific fields — for African students receiving a degree or certification in Taiwan, sources said. A few universities have already started recruiting in Africa, such as Tainan-based Chang Jung Christian University, the ministry said. Chang Jung, in cooperation with the Jane Goodall Foundation and other environmental groups, in 2016 launched the International College of Practice and Education for the Environment to train leaders for the environmental movement, and provide programs on ecology and green economies. Over the past three years that program has attracted 57 African students, mainly from Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda and Eswatini, ministry officials said. Arrangements are under way for Eswatini to offer 100 scholarships for students at

By Rachel Lin