Public schools must improve self-supervision and internal control mechanisms, the Ministry of Education said on Thursday after the Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) reported that at least 200 principals at elementary or junior-high schools traveled to China to attend activities linked to China’s Taiwan Affairs Office in the summer break.
Some participants listened to a Chinese official give a speech about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) “five points,” the Liberty Times reported, adding that summer is the “high season” for “united front” work at Taiwanese schools.
The ministry’s Department of International and Cross-Strait Education said that while it supports ties based on the principles of reciprocity and mutual benefit, activities should not contravene 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) or other regulations.
The rules require that presidents of government-funded universities and colleges, and principals at public senior-high schools or vocational high schools report to and obtain approval from the ministry before traveling to China, the department said.
Public elementary and junior-high schools funded by city and county governments are subject to the regulations of their local authorities, it said.
The ministry is to maintain contact with the Mainland Affairs Council and other government agencies regarding the situation reported by the Liberty Times and keep a close tab on developments, it said.
Over the past few years, the ministry has called on schools to pay attention to the purpose, organizers, itinerary and messaging of cross-strait educational exchanges, it said.
Such events should not be subject to “inappropriate interference” or be politically motivated, it said.
The ministry is to continue to ask schools to improve their self-supervision and internal control, and to keep a complete record of the review processes and exchanges so that government agencies can check them, it said.
It also invited council officials to communicate the government’s policy on cross-strait exchanges to educators, it said.
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