National Tsing Hua University and a private foundation yesterday signed a contract in Taipei to found the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science (TSE).
Signed by TSE foundation chairman Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) and university president Hocheng Hong (賀陳弘), the school represents the first collaboration in the nation between a private foundation and a public institution to set up an educational institution.
The TSE is to be established inside the Hsinchu-based university, becoming the 11th college on campus, Huang said, adding that it plans to admit 10 graduate students in September next year, before gradually raising the number to 30 doctoral and 150 graduate students each year.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
International students are expected to make up two-thirds of the studentry, with all courses taught in English, he said, adding that graduation diplomas will be conferred by the university.
The university has been the cradle of numerous talent in science and technology, making it an ideal partner to run the TSE, which seeks to cultivate professionals in politics, economics, new technologies and sustainable development, he said.
The inspiration for founding the school was the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), which was founded in 1895 by members of the Fabian Society for the betterment of society, he said.
Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) attended the signing ceremony.
Lin Chen-hai (林陳海), the main donor who set up a NT$3 billion (US$100 million) fund for the TSE, said the interest generated by the fund would be used as operating expenditure for the school, which is estimated to be about NT$100 million each year, said his son, Lin Chia-hung (林家宏).
The establishment of the TSE is a groundbreaking experiment on higher education innovation and globalization in Taiwan, while the scale of funds injected into the school for the development of social science is unprecedented, Hocheng said.
TSE combines the prestige of the public sector with the flexibility and resources of the private sector, making it the first of its kind in Taiwan, and extremely rare in Asia, Hocheng said, adding that he is certain it would greatly raise the nation’s global profile.
Additional reporting by CNA
The coast guard on Friday took a Chinese fishing boat and the 17 people on board into custody, after it rammed into a patrol boat while attempting to flee. A 100-tonne coast guard vessel at about 8am discovered a Chinese fishing boat illegally operating in waters about 11 nautical miles (20.4km) northwest of Hsinchu, the Hsinchu offshore flotilla of the Coast Guard Administration said. The crew refused to allow law enforcement to board the ship and attempted to flee, it added. The coast guard vessel and another ship chased the fishing boat for about a half hour, during which time the Chinese boat
Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that Beijing was trying to “annex” Taiwan, while China said its recent series of drills near Taiwan are aimed at combating the “arrogance” of separatist forces. The Ministry of National Defense earlier this month said that it had observed dozens of Chinese fighters, drones, bombers and other aircraft, as well as warships and the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong, operating nearby. The increased frequency of China’s military activities has raised the risk of events “getting out of hand” and sparking an accidental clash, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said last week. Asked about the spurt
China’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong has asked foreign consulates in Hong Kong to submit details of their local staff, which is more proof that the “one country, two systems” model no longer exists, a Taiwanese academic said. The office sent letters dated Monday last week to consulates in the territory, giving them one month to submit the information it requires. The move followed Beijing’s attempt to obtain floor plans for all properties used by foreign missions in Hong Kong last year, which raised concerns among diplomats that the information could be used for
‘ABNORMITY’: News of the military exercises on the coast of the Chinese province facing Taiwan were made public by the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday Taiwan’s military yesterday said it has detected the Chinese military initiating a round of exercises at a bay area in coastal Fujian Province, which faces Taiwan, since early yesterday morning and it has been closely monitoring the drills. The exercises being conducted at Fujian’s Dacheng Bay featured an undisclosed number of People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) warplanes, warships and ground troops, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press statement. The ministry did not disclose what kind of military exercises are being conducted there and for how long they would be happening, but it did say that it has been closely watching