The Ministry of Education yesterday said that Taiwanese students’ US visa applications are continuing as usual, after Politico reported that US President Donald Trump’s administration is considering requiring all international students to undergo social media vetting.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered US embassies to “pause scheduling new interviews for such student visa applicants,” Politico reported.
“Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued,” the order said, according to Politico.
Photo: Wang Yi-song, Taipei Times
Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) yesterday at the Legislative Yuan said that the ministry’s overseas branches were in contact with Taiwanese students studying at Harvard University.
The ministry is also in talks with the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) to ensure that Taiwanese students’ rights to study are not infringed, Cheng said.
The Department of Higher Education is working with National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University to offer students a smooth transfer to domestic universities, he added.
Department of Higher Education Director-General Liao Kao-hsien (廖高賢) said the department has received phone calls from Harvard students, but they did not mention being asked to leave the university.
Domestic universities have expressed a willingness to accept students in the US, Liao said.
Department of International and Cross-strait Education Director-General Lee Yu-jiuan (李毓娟) said the US Department of State’s Web site does not carry any information about a general halt on student visas.
Lee also said that her department had reached out to the AIT and confirmed that it had not received an order from the US Department of State to suspend student visa processing, and that all scheduled visa interviews were continuing as planned.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
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Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
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