Restrictions barring Chinese students from enrolling at Taiwanese colleges could be lifted, pending further research into the matter, the nation's top cross-strait policymaker said yesterday.
However, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) officials were quick to equivocate on the issue, stressing that the policy was still being deliberated and that no timeframe had yet been set for its implementation.
During the 11th Congress of the Asian Federation of Taiwan Chambers of Commerce in Kaohsiung yesterday, MAC Chairman Joseph Wu (
"President Chen Shui-bian [
As cross strait economic and civil exchanges become more common, MAC will also relax rules to promote cross-strait exchanges," Wu added.
However, MAC officials pointed to the difficulties that the new policy posed, saying that it would involve cooperation from other agencies, such as the Ministry of Education.
"This policy touches upon so many different issues. For example, if these students are to stay in Taiwan for over a year, there is the question of whether national health insurance should be extended to them. Also, as college is a four year program, we need to consider whether these students can work in Taiwan," MAC Department of Cultural and Educational Affairs Director Chen Huei-ying (
With regards to when the policy could be enacted, Chen responded that the council was "taking it one step at a time."
Despite the difficulties involved, there are precedents for cross-strait educational exchange. Two years ago, the MAC authorized the establishment of Taiwan-based continuing education programs in China. In addition, several Chinese students have been allowed to perform graduate-level research in Taiwan for periods of several months.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. 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, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese
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