The Ministry of Education today agreed to discuss the potential of allowing Chinese students in Hong Kong and Japan to study in Taiwan, following a suggestion from a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker.
Legislator Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) made the suggestion during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee, where Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) was invited to give a policy update.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Cheng promised to assess the suggestion in detail, with the caveat that China has so far seemed uninterested in allowing for student exchanges.
After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China suspended the entry of new students to Taiwan. Only those who are currently continuing their studies, such as an undergraduate student who went on to pursue a master's degree, have been allowed to remain.
In his inaugural speech in May, President William Lai (賴清德) mentioned bilateral tourism and student exchanges as a way for both sides to restart positive engagement and pursue common goals.
Cheng said that since assuming the ministerial role, he has tried to communicate with his counterparts in China about the issue, but that their attitude has been closed off so far.
The lack of communication also makes it difficult to estimate how many Chinese students would be interested in studying in Taiwan, and the ministry has instead focused on attracting students from Southeast Asia, Europe and the US, he said.
While he said he understood the difficulties, Lo raised concerns about Taiwan falling behind other countries in the race to attract the best and brightest college students.
In addition to accepting Chinese students, Lo suggested opening overseas Chinese-language schools or targeting Chinese students already in Hong Kong and Japan.
There are many Chinese students in Hong Kong willing to come to Taiwan, Lo said, to which Cheng replied that the ministry would have more detailed internal discussions on the matter.
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