More than six months have passed since Taiwan first opened full-time admissions to students from China, but local society has been divided on whether restrictions on them should be eased, a local academic says.
The government’s “three limits, six noes” policy on the admission of Chinese students to local universities is the result of doubts and opposition from the public, said Chang Wu-ueh (張五岳), director of the Graduate Institute of China Studies at Tamkang University, in a recent interview.
The “three limits” refer to restrictions on the number of Chinese universities that the government can recognize, on the total number of Chinese college students who can enter Taiwan and on the accreditation of Chinese diplomas related to medical personnel certification exams.
The “six noes” mean that Chinese students are not allowed to receive scholarships or professional licenses, work in Taiwan before or after graduation, receive extra points in examinations or take civil service exams.
These restrictive policies represent a transitional, compromised product, Chang said.
They are not in line with the original goal of opening to Chinese students, or the spirit of education, he added.
However, in the current political environment, “we can only make do with this and hope for something better,” he said.
Chang proposed two directions for the government’s future policy on the issue.
“If Taiwan wants to recruit top students from China, then not only should it scrap the restrictions, but it should provide incentives. Otherwise, it will be difficult to attract outstanding students, since many countries, such as the US, the UK and Singapore, offer abundant scholarships,” Chang said.
On the other hand, if Taiwan does not target the best students in China, it should treat education as an industry, he said.
As long as they can afford the tuition fees, Taiwan should allow them to study here, using the high tuition fees charged to international students to improve local schools’ quality, he said.
The current educational environment for Chinese students, Chang said, can hardly attract the best, nor can it help the less popular schools to solve their financial problems.
National Taiwan University (NTU) sociology professor Lin Kuo-ming (林國明) expressed a similar view.
In a recent forum on the issue, Lin said many of the private schools that fail to recruit enough students hope opening to Chinese students will solve their financial problems.
However, many Taiwanese view China as hostile and therefore see Chinese students as potential enemies, Lin said.
These people think Chinese students should not be allowed to take up or share Taiwan’s resources.
Yu Zelin (余澤霖), a Chinese student who studies at the Chinese Culture University in Taipei, said that opening the educational market was a decision the authorities should have made earlier, with the trend toward academic globalization.
This could also help improve the quality of Taiwan’s higher education and boost local students’ competitiveness, he said.
The freshman pointed out some problems in the current system for students like him.
Many Chinese students “are afraid to see a doctor” when they are sick or even “do not dare to get sick” because they could end up paying expensive medical bills because of their exclusion from the national health insurance plan, he said.
Their hard work in school is also not rewarded, because they are not allowed to receive government scholarships, he added.
Moreover, the environment of free speech can create pressure on young people in their 20s, thanks to “ignorant” and “xenophobic” comments on the Internet, such as “swim back if you’re upset” directed at them by some Taiwanese.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) last month asked for a review of Taiwan’s policy on the admission of Chinese students, after the Ministry of Education said some of the existing restrictions could dampen interest among Chinese students.
A cross-strait affairs academic, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the current policy on Chinese students was “uncivilized,” while an official also said the administration should discuss a relaxation of the restrictions.
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