A high-ranking education official yesterday expressed confidence that distinguished high school students would stay and study in Taiwan despite China’s plan to allow Taiwanese to apply for places at Chinese universities using their scores on the Taiwanese college entrance exams.
Department of Higher Education Director Ho Cho-fei (何卓飛) said a survey conducted by the Ministry of Education showed that up to 80 percent of respondents said they would not send their children to study in China even if Taiwan recognized Chinese diplomas.
Only 8 percent of those polled said they would consider the option, while 12 percent said they would choose to do so even if the government decided not to recognize Chinese diplomas, Ho said.
“Those who want to go [to study in China] will go anyway, but most will stay,” Ho said.
Ho made the remarks in response to an announcement by Chinese Vice Minister of Education Yuan Gui-ren (袁貴仁) during the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forum in Changsha, Hunan Province, at the weekend.
Yuan said on Saturday that China was planning to allow Taiwanese students who score well on Taiwan’s college entrance examinations to apply to study at universities in China. Yuan said Taiwanese students would be admitted if they passed interviews.
Currently, Taiwanese students who wish to attend Chinese universities have to either take special entrance examinations for students from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau or sit China’s college entrance examination. Taiwanese students receive an extra 20-point bonus on their scores.
However, Taiwan does not recognize Chinese diplomas, even though the KMT administration has announced that recognition of the diplomas would be one of the objectives of its cross-strait educational exchanges.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has objected to the policy.
KMT Legislator Cheng Chin-ling (鄭金玲) of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee said China’s plan could serve as a driving force for Taiwanese universities to improve the quality of their teaching.
On the other hand, DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃), also a member of the committee, voiced her concern that China could take this opportunity to force the Taiwanese government to recognize Chinese diplomas.
She said that the survival of Taiwan’s universities might be at stake if more Taiwanese students studied in China.
Meanwhile, Peking University president Zhou Qifeng (周其鳳), who is in Taiwan for an eight-day visit to promote academic and student exchanges among tertiary education institutions, said he hoped his visit would help persuade Taiwan to recognize Chinese diplomas.
“It is widely believed that Taiwanese recognition of Chinese diplomas and academic accreditations will further boost cross-strait student exchanges and mutual understanding,” Zhou said at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
Peking University admits about 200 Taiwanese students each year, Zhou said.
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
RSS