Promoting cross-strait exchanges and university autonomy should not go beyond the law, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said yesterday, following protests from some associations regarding the ministry’s handling of a controversy involving National Tsing Hua University.
After the Hsinchu-based university was found to have opened an office funded by China’s Cross-Strait Tsinghua Research Institute, the ministry asked the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Mainland Affairs Council to penalize the university for contravening laws within their jurisdictions.
The Association of National Universities and the Association of Private Universities and Colleges on Friday issued a joint statement urging the government to be cautious about curbing the autonomy of university management.
Universities are granted a greater degree of freedom in the Constitution to benefit society through unlimited research, the statement said.
The government should not over-regulate universities and damage academic freedom, it said, adding that “politics are transient, while academics are permanent.”
Academic freedom’s tolerance for different political regimes is a necessary exercise, it said, adding that allowing politics to suppress research has historically shown to be damaging.
“Universities shall be guaranteed academic freedom and shall enjoy autonomy within the scope of laws and regulations,” the MOE said in response, citing Article 1 of the University Act (大學法).
The ministry respects academic autonomy in planning curricula, services and research, and it encourages exchanges that are conducted legally, it said.
Higher education institutions are publicly funded and expected to be socially responsible.
If a university believes that its actions might contravene any laws, it should file an application to obtain guidance, the MOE said.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
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