Academics and opposition legislators panned President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration for dereliction of duty in allowing a Chinese citizen to hold the position of adviser in a Taiwanese governmental institution, claiming that it showed that the pursuit of pro-China cross-strait policies has led to confusion among government agencies and the gradual departure of such agencies from the law when interacting with China.
An article in the China Ocean News in October, by National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium’s polar advisory committee member Wang Zipan (王自磐), a visiting Chinese academic, discussed the success of “arctic ‘united front’ rhetoric,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) said.
Wang said that he had been asked by the Chinese State Oceanic Administration in 2008 to see if Chinese Antarctic exploration ship Xue Long (雪龍) would be able to stop in Taiwan upon returning from its 25th exploration trip.
Wang said he had contacted Taiwanese friend and academic Fang Li-hsing (方立行) about the issue, who was reportedly “very excited about the matter” and had contacted “high-ranking officials in Taipei.”
Xue Long later docked in Greater Kaohsiung on April 1, 2009, for a three-day stay.
Cheng said terms in the article such as “the homeland’s treasured jewel — Taiwan (祖國寶島台灣)” smacked of “united front” rhetoric.
The Ministry of Education’s lack of supervision of its subordinates — as evidenced by Wang’s position as a committee adviser at a national institution despite his nationality — and the central government’s insistence on promoting cross-strait policies since Ma came into office clearly show that the government has derailed from legal basis in cross-strait interactions, Cheng said.
Despite the museum’s build-operate-transfer method of operation and endorsements from businesses, the government has also allotted the museum NT$100 million (US$3.15 million) in funding, more than 60 percent of which comes from the ministry, Cheng said.
Cheng also said that research staff at the museum were shared with National Dong Hwa University’s Institute of Marine Biotechnology.
The staff’s pay comes from taxpayers’ money, Cheng said, adding that it was Taiwanese money paying for the research.
Former Antarctic Society of Taiwan secretary-general Lee Hou-chin (李後進) said that even when Thai staff worked at the Japanese station in Antarctica, they still wore Thai uniforms.
There is no reason why staff from Taiwan should have to wear Chinese uniforms when visiting Antarctica, Lee said, adding that researchers should not trade the nation’s sovereignty for personal chances at promotion.
The museum should put a halt to their cooperation with China by next year, Lee said.
In response, Minister of Education Wu Se-hua (吳思華) said that the ministry would look into the matter and seek to conclude its investigation within one week, adding that the ministry would also look into the museum’s alleged illegal hiring of Chinese citizens.
The ministry’s Department of Lifelong Education Deputy Head Lee Yu-chuan (李毓娟) said preliminary inquiries were inconclusive, as the museum had not provided sufficient data, such as under what capacity Wang had entered Taiwan and what kind of visa he held.
As the case involves Chinese citizens, the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) would be used as the primary legal reference, Lee said.
Whether the museum has violated the law remains to be seen, despite clear ministry rules stating that academics from across the Taiwan Strait may not take either full-time or part-time jobs, Lee said.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
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