While most Taiwanese favored allowing Chinese students to study in Taiwan, legal measures must be in place to manage their stay and protect the interests of local students, a poll released yesterday by the Taiwan Thinktank showed.
The survey showed that 54.3 percent of respondents supported allowing Chinese students to study in local colleges and universities, while 44 percent said they were against it.
A majority of the people polled, however, said the government must have strategic measures in place to minimize its impact.
The poll questioned 1,128 adults nationwide on Aug. 9 and Aug. 10.
On the issue of recognizing Chinese educational credentials, more than 54 percent of respondents opposed the measure compared with 41.6 percent who supported it.
Once Chinese students are allowed to study here, 62.8 percent of respondents said they should not be allowed to work here, while 36.3 percent said they should. Nearly 69 percent said they were against Chinese students staying here after graduation, while 29.9 percent said they supported it.
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More than 81 percent said Chinese students should not be allowed to take national examinations to obtain licenses or certificates against 16.3 percent who said they should.
Asked whether the government should have a mechanism in place to manage Chinese students, 88.1 percent said it should, while 10.4 percent said no. While the government has proposed implementing such measures through an executive decree, 81.7 percent of those polled said the legislature should approve the measures, while 15.4 percent saw no need for legislation.
The legislature is scheduled to hold a two-week provisional session starting on Tuesday to tackle a number of contentious bills, including proposed revisions to the University Act (大學法), the Vocational School Act (專科學校法) and the Act Governing the Relations Between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to allow local schools to accept Chinese students.
Taiwan Thinktank executive director Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said a well-thought-out mechanism must be in place to manage Chinese students and restrictions must be written into law.
The restrictions — dubbed “three limits and six noes” — were proposed by the Ministry of Education to protect the interests of Taiwanese students.
The “three limits” refer to restrictions on the number of Chinese universities that the government plans to recognize, the total number of Chinese college students who can enter Taiwan to study and the types of Chinese diplomas that can be accredited in Taiwan.
The “six noes” would prohibit Chinese students from receiving scholarships, obtaining a professional license, working and/or staying in Taiwan upon graduation, receiving extra points on examinations and taking part in civil service examinations.
Cheng said the policy must not cost local students their chances of being admitted to college or winning a scholarship.
Chinese students must also not be allowed to work in Taiwan or take national examinations to obtain licenses, she added.
Cheng also urged the government to offer educational resources to local students or relax restrictions on obtaining such resources rather than favoring their Chinese counterparts.
POLICY EVALUATION
The government must allow at least six years to evaluate the policy and map out necessary measures before increasing the number of Chinese students, she said, while urging the government to abolish or amend executive decrees allowing Chinese nationals to study here in their capacity as professionals.
At a separate setting yesterday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) lauded the policy of allowing Chinese students to study here as a way of laying the foundation for sustainable peace across the Taiwan Strait.
Ma said the policy would help Taiwanese students better understand their Chinese counterparts at an early age and therefore help create peace across the Taiwan Strait.
“Such an opening is conducive to cross-strait peace, sharpening the competitiveness of Taiwanese students and helping local colleges and universities recruit more students,” Ma said while addressing a Buddhist summer camp at Fokuangshan monastery in Kaohsiung County. “To pursue everlasting peace in the [Taiwan] Strait, we should create chances that allow youth from the two sides to know each other at an earlier stage.”
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