Taiwan’s democracy and academic independence are invaluable, and universities should be cautious regarding exchanges with China, President William Lai (賴清德) said at the National Conference for the University Presidents at Taiwan National Ilan University yesterday.
Lai’s comments came a day after officials warned about Chinese Communist Party attempts to influence Taiwanese university students and three Chinese universities were blacklisted.
Institutions must be aware of the risks and join the government in protecting the nation’s core key technologies, research and competitiveness, Lai said.
Photo: Yang Mien-chieh, Taipei Times
Taiwan’s freedom and democratic way of life are “precious” assets, he added.
On Wednesday, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said that Taiwanese institutions would be banned from collaborating with Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, Jinan University in Guangzhou, and the Beijing Chinese Language and Culture College.
Yesterday, Cheng confirmed that the Ministry of Education would no longer recognize qualifications from institutions that are affiliated with China’s United Front Work Department, including the three blacklisted institutions.
Students are free to attend the institutions, but diplomas from them would not be recognized in Taiwan, he added.
As of yesterday, there were 2,100 Taiwanese enrolled at the three institutions, he said, adding that the ministry is evaluating options for short-term relief measures as the policy takes effect.
The ministry supports Taiwanese who want to study overseas, but the blacklisted institutions are not academically oriented, instead serving political purposes, Cheng said.
Taiwanese education providers that do not comply with the ministry’s new policy would face penalties such as a reduction in government subsidies, he said.
In the past few years, China has stepped up its recruitment of Taiwanese high-school graduates, offering scholarships and reduced tuition, and accepting Taiwan’s General Scholastic Ability Test results for admission to its universities and other institutions of higher education.
Later yesterday, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said it was “not surprising” that entities run by the United Front Work Department would engage in activities to “absorb” Taiwanese students or hope they return to Taiwan to conduct “united front” work, as that is “precisely the work of” the department.
Asked why the ban is being imposed at this time, with the three institutions long having been run by the department, Liang told a regular news briefing that authorities have observed an increase in intermediary agents facilitating the recruitment of Taiwanese to them, as well as a rise in enrollments.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said that the ministry’s policy decision was politically motivated.
The Democratic Progressive Party is seeking to disrupt cross-strait academic interactions, as it has fouled up cross-strait tourism, Chu said.
Interactions should be encouraged with any education provider that meets global standards, he said, adding that more work should be done to draw foreign students to study in Taiwan.
National Chi Nan University would comply with the new regulations and remove the three Chinese institutions from its list of recommended exchange programs, university president Wuu Dong-sing (武東星) told reporters yesterday.
The university had signed cooperation agreements with Jinan University and Huaqiao University to promote short-term study exchanges, but there are no Chinese students on its campus, nor are any of its own students in Guangzhou, Wuu said.
Taiwanese and Chinese universities should be able to maintain academic exchanges, but universities also have to consider political and national security factors, National Taiwan University president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said.
Meanwhile at the conference, Lai laid out four goals for Taiwan’s education sector: Ensuring that no student is left behind, promoting collaborative development among universities, encouraging innovation in higher education and increasing government support for institutions.
The ministry must allocate resources to provide equal opportunities for all students, especially those from rural areas; ensure universities are fostering interdisciplinary talent; promote new possibilities for academic development; support students to pursue international experience; and assist to set up private-public collaborations, Lai said.
One of the initiatives Lai cited was the Taiwan Global Pathfinders Initiative, for which the government has allocated NT$10 billion (US$304.96 million) to fund opportunities for young Taiwanese to travel overseas.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
BUILDUP: US General Dan Caine said Chinese military maneuvers are not routine exercises, but instead are ‘rehearsals for a forced unification’ with Taiwan China poses an increasingly aggressive threat to the US and deterring Beijing is the Pentagon’s top regional priority amid its rapid military buildup and invasion drills near Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during an oversight hearing with US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it could derail
COMPLIANCE: The SEF has helped more than 3,900 Chinese verify documents, indicating that most of those affected are willing to cooperate, the MAC said More than 3,100 spouses from China have submitted proof of renunciation of their Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The National Immigration Agency has since April issued notices to spouses to submit proof that they had renounced their Chinese household registration on or before June 30 or their Taiwanese household registration would be revoked. People having difficulties obtaining such a document can request an extension of the deadline or submit a written affidavit in lieu of it. The council said it would hold a briefing at 2:30pm on Friday at the immigration agency’s Taichung office in cooperation with the
The government-funded human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination is to be expanded to boys at junior-high school starting in September, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. The Taiwan Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, the Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Taiwan Immunization Vision and Strategy, the Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan, the Taiwan Head and Neck Society, the Formosa Cancer Foundation and the National Alliance of Presidents of Parents Associations held a joint news conference in Taipei yesterday to raise public awareness about the risks of HPV infection, regardless of gender. Invited to give an address, HPA Director-General Wu Chao-chun
RSS