Student groups yesterday called on the Ministry of Education to ensure fair access to housing for 270,000 students they said would be forced to rent off-campus because they were unable to obtain a room in university dormitories.
The call came in the wake of the Da Chiun Building (大群館) controversy. The building is owned by Yoyu Co Ltd (又昱實業有限公司), which is 96 percent owned by the wife of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) New Taipei City mayoral candidate Hou You-yi (侯友宜), and has been in been in use by Chinese Culture University (CCU) as a student dorm.
The Taipei Department of Urban Development earlier this month said that the building contravenes local zoning laws.
Photo: Lin Hsiao-yun, Taipei Times
University students that had already obtained a room in the building are facing potential expulsion and have had to start looking for possible rental options.
Statistics show that among the six special municipalities, Taichung has the highest bed shortage at 67,305 beds, followed by Tainan with 38,462, Kaohsiung with 26,986, Taipei with 25,989 and New Taipei City with 14,027 beds, the Taiwan High Education Union told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
Union member Su Tzu-hsuan (蘇子軒) was critical of the education ministry, stating that it turned a blind eye to students’ right to room and board.
Universities are also to blame, as they have not increased their spending on housing, despite enrollment increasing for more than two decades, Su added.
Student representatives presented examples.
Taipei Medical University has 800 beds available for 6,000 students, while the average price for a room off-campus stands at NT$7,500 per month, student representative Pan Kuan (潘寬) said.
Speaking on behalf of CCU students, Yangming University critical thought student Chu Chih-te (朱智德) said that CCU must resolve its shortage of dormitory space.
Negotiations with the Hwa Kang Xing Ye Foundation, the owner of the Da Jhong Building (大忠館), that the school plans to repurpose into a dormitory, have stalled, Chu said
As the foundation’s president is also a member of CCU’s board of directors, the university should resume talks with the foundation to replace the Da Chiun Building dorms, which have long been controversial, Chu said.
Tamkang University student Hsieh Yi-hung (謝毅宏) cited education ministry statistics as saying that 9,400 students from the school rented apartments off-campus, adding that their safety is not guaranteed.
Off-campus rentals are subject to uncertainty and there have often been safety issues, such as in 2014, when a student from Hong Kong was killed in a fire, Hsieh said, adding that they are also much more expensive than school dormitories.
Some apartments offer 4 ping (13m2) rooms and have 10 rooms per floor, Hsieh said.
Ministry data show that 320,000 beds are available at universities and 300,000 students can apply each year, but averages do not reflect conditions at individual universities, Department of Higher Education Director-General Chu Chun-chang (朱俊彰) said.
The ministry would talk to universities about possible solutions, he added.
Draft proposals, including repurposing buildings on campus or unused buildings at nearby elementary schools and junior-high schools, would be published within a month after consultation with local governments and interagency deliberation, Chu said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as