Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday.
China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials.
A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or facilitating programs with the two Chinese universities would be announced at an annual meeting with Taiwanese college and university deans, he said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The prohibition would apply to public and private high schools, colleges and universities, and their vocational equivalents nationwide, he said.
Any institution that contravenes the order would have their government subsidies withdrawn, Cheng said in reference to private education providers not subordinate to the Ministry of Education.
The measure is necessary to prevent China from systematically targeting Taiwanese students with its “united front” work, he said, adding that education providers have an obligation to protect national security.
Taiwanese have a constitutional right to education, but the two Chinese universities do not serve an educational role, as shown by the United Front Work Department’s involvement in their affairs, he said.
Taiwanese colleges and universities are already forbidden from collaborating with education providers run by the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, Cheng said.
The Ministry of Education’s authority applies only to the administration of high schools, colleges and universities, not students, who are free to attend any institution they want, he said.
The two Chinese universities are continuing their efforts to recruit Taiwanese high-school graduates following the conclusion of this year’s national college entrance examinations, a source said on condition of anonymity.
Separately, in July last year, education authorities warned about the risks of participating in Chinese academic events after the Mainland Affairs Council raised its travel advisory for China to “orange.”
A source familiar with Huaqiao University said that the institution has “extremely low standards” for Taiwanese applicants and that its graduate programs have a fixed quota for students from Taiwan.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) studied law at Huaqiao University, the source added.
On Tuesday, Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), who attended Huaqiao University, said that professors there taught “Xi Jinping thought” and criticized the US.
“When I applied through a special program [to enroll], Huaqiao University would take any Taiwanese applicant, even if they had not graduated from high school,” said Chen, whose stage name is Mannam PYC (閩南狼).
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole
RSS