With an admission letter in hand, Taiwanese student Lin Yu-hsuan was ready to attend her dream school, Harvard University, this September. However, Lin said the decision of US President Donald Trump’s administration to revoke Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students made her feel anxious and helpless.
“The path toward my dream is actually harder and tougher than I expected. There are so many uncertainties,” she said.
“I thought that I could accept all the changes along the way, as what we have gone through in the past half year. However, this one is specifically [targeted] at the international students, so I kind of feel like really hit by it. And that’s why I feel kind of anxious,” Lin said.
Photo: Reuters
The decision marked a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign against the elite Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Harvard called it a “blatant violation” of the US Constitution and other federal laws.
A US judge temporarily blocked the administration’s order, but it did not provide comfort to Lin, who has yet to receive her visa.
“I think I would either defer my studies at Harvard, as they said that’s one of the possibilities, or I would probably apply for master programs in Europe or the UK.”
Another Taiwanese student, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Vince, said he planned to start his public health studies at Harvard this year.
“We are certainly feeling pretty nervous, and it’s been a dream for me to come from a small town in Taiwan all the way to Harvard,” he said. “I think that this is the best that the US can offer. So, I would like to plead to the president that, please, I hope that this generosity can be continued.”
The Ministry of Education on Friday said it expects 52 Taiwanese students to be affected by the US government’s move.
The ministry said it welcomes students whose studies at Harvard would be affected, to complete their studies in Taiwan, adding that it would help them with the transfer process.
It also urged local universities that have a memorandum of understanding with Harvard to discuss measures that would help Taiwanese students complete their studies.
Any students in need of assistance could contact the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office’s Boston branch’s education division via e-mail at boston@mail.moe.gov.tw, the ministry said.
Additional reporting by Rachel Lin
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
RSS