The Ministry of Education is considering allowing Chinese students living in third regions to study in Taiwan, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said today.
During a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee to review the ministry’s budget, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) said the ministry has not taken any actions with regards to the issue and proposed eliminating NT$755,000 (US$23,060) allocated for travel expenses related to China.
The travel expenses also lacked detailed explanations, Lo said, adding that if the budget is not entirely removed, it could also be frozen.
Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times
If cross-strait relations improve enough to enable future visits, the funds could be used, but the budget proposal was insufficiently detailed, KMT Legislator Wan Mei-ling (萬美玲) said.
KMT Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) asked if the ministry had utilized the funds in the past two or three years, saying that if it had, the funds should be frozen rather than removed.
To maintain goodwill and allow for future cross-strait exchanges, the funds should be fully frozen rather than eliminated, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) said.
The funds could also be frozen to provide the ministry flexibility in promoting related initiatives, DPP Legislator Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) said.
Relations and negotiating counterparts can vary depending on the situation and are sometimes uncertain, the ministry said, asking legislators to allow it to maintain flexibility.
The ministry is already considering measures to allow Chinese students from third regions to study in Taiwan, Cheng said.
The budget also includes recruiting students from Hong Kong and Macau, Deputy Minister of Education Lin Teng-chiao (林騰蛟) said.
Instead of removing the full amount, NT$250,000 could be frozen, Lin added.
The committee decided to freeze NT$250,000 of the travel budget for China, to be released only after the ministry submits a written report.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS