Taiwan urges Beijing not to use academic exchanges as “united front” tactics against Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday.
Taiwan welcomes Chinese students and included them in the National Health Insurance (NHI) system last year, he said.
Chiu made the remarks after the Ministry of Education on Thursday banned Chinese colleges and universities affiliated with Beijing’s United Front Work Department from conducting academic exchange programs with Taiwanese schools.
Photo: CNA
The blacklist includes Jinan University, Huaqiao University and Beijing Chinese Language and Culture College. The former’s diplomas would no longer be recognized by the ministry, while the latter two never obtained recognition.
Chiu yesterday said that the ministry has given sufficient reasons for the new policy, which the MAC would respect and support.
Taiwanese students could still choose from the remaining 154 Chinese universities to gain a degree recognized in Taiwan, even though Jinan University is disqualified, he said.
Many parents of Chinese students have made telephone calls to the ministry or the MAC asking whether their children could study in Taiwan, Chiu said.
Noting that prior approval from the Chinese government is required, he said that Beijing’s stringent regulation on outbound travel is the main reason that cross-strait academic exchanges are limited, and he called for prompt communications between admission authorities on both sides to improve the situation.
The government embraces Chinese students and has prepared for them by launching more than 10 preferential schemes to aid their academic pursuit in Taiwan, including offering the NHI system, simplifying procedures for Chinese students at customs and expanding recognition of educational credentials to 346 Chinese universities, Chiu said.
Discussion is ongoing about how to provide similar academic exchange programs for Chinese students with permanent residence or dependent residence in Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, he said.
The MAC expects such academic exchange programs to facilitate mutual understanding across the Taiwan Strait, but they should not be used as a means of “united front” tactics, which would not be well received by Taiwanese, Chiu said.
Taiwanese students visiting China on such programs must register their academic exchange activities on the ministry’s system, and remember to help maintain Taiwan’s national interests and international image, he said.
The cross-strait relationship has changed in three ways since the COVID-19 pandemic, Chiu said.
First, Chinese warplanes and warships harassing Taiwan have become normalized, with more than 5,000 aircraft and 2,000 vessels detected around Taiwan last year, he said, adding that more than 3,000 of the 5,000 aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait’s median line.
Second, Beijing declared its “22 guidelines to penalize Taiwan independence separatists,” with a mailbox set up for reporting those who express support for the Republic of China or do not endorse Beijing’s “one China” principle, he said.
Third, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has set various goals to achieve his so-called historical missions, which included solving the “Taiwan problem,” he said.
The MAC would continue to collaborate with the ministry to build the public’s “China literacy,” including providing relevant teaching resources, Chiu said.
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