Taiwanese academics should be aware of the risks of working in China, where they might encounter problems, including a lack of academic freedom, lawyer Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) said yesterday, adding that they might face accusations back home of being a spy for Beijing.
“Academic freedom is a fundamental principle when working at a university. It is protected by Taiwan’s Constitution, but is suppressed in China,” said Huang, who is a member of non-governmental organization Taiwan Forever Association. “Professors at Chinese universities can only do research by pandering to the needs of Chinese officials and politicians. If not, they could ‘disappear’ or end up in prison.”
Unlike Taiwan, where the rule of law prevails, Chinese society is based on the “rule of man,” so it can “violate contracts, tear them up or fire you arbitrarily,” he said.
“Taiwan’s and China’s mindsets and political systems are very different. So when Taiwanese academics receive wages and payments from China, people might question their actions and motives once they return to Taiwan,” he said. “Or they might be perceived as working to infiltrate [the nation] or develop a Chinese spy network, which could become a heavy burden.”
The warning came following a Taipei District Court ruling against Chen Lung-fei (陳龍飛), a university lecturer who accepted a teaching job at the business school of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China, in 2015, but whose contract was not renewed after three years.
At the time, representatives from the university would come to Taiwan offering academics annual salaries of NT$2 million (US$67,604 at the current exchange rate) and a free apartment.
Sun Yat-sen University said that it recruited 42 Taiwanese academics with doctorates.
Chen, 55, said he went to China after signing a three-year contract to teach business. When his contract was not renewed, he returned to Taiwan, but has encountered difficulty finding work at universities here.
Chen filed a lawsuit seeking NT$50,000 each from National Taiwan University (NTU) and National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) for allowing the Chinese univerisity to attend their job fairs in 2015.
“The two universities permitted Chinese universities to set up booths for recruitment, and Taiwanese academics, including me, fell into the trap, which led to my unemployment,” Chen said.
He accused NTU and NTNU of breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法) and 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) by renting space to Chinese universities.
However, the court ruled against Chen, saying that the acts did not apply in his case and that he bears responsibility for losing his job at the Chinese university.
Taiwanese academics should be aware of the risks of working on the other side of the Taiwan Strait, as it would be difficult to seek redress in the Chinese justice system if they are treated unfairly, the court said.
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