A Taiwanese public university yesterday confirmed at a forum on cross-strait affairs that it had changed its name in an effort to attract more Chinese students, while a Chinese academic dared Taiwan to join an “experiment in democracy” in China.
National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) has made extensive efforts to attract Chinese students, who will be allowed to enroll starting in September, NTNU professor Tsai Chang-yen (蔡昌言) said at the Cross-Strait Competitiveness Forum organized by the National Competitiveness Forum think tank.
In the school’s promotional posters and application brochures in simplified Chinese, the word “national” is not included in the school name, a move to demonstrate “goodwill” to China, Tsai said as he showed the poster to the audience.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Speaking earlier, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chao Chien-ming (趙建民) attributed what he called Taiwan’s loss of national competitiveness to the “mishandling of cross-strait relations,” without elaborating.
Chao accused former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) of “taking the nation in the wrong direction since the middle of the 1990s,” about the time when Lee put political identity above economic development and everything else.
Taiwan spent too much energy on “meaningless activities” during that period, Chao said.
Meanwhile, Li Minrong (李閩榕), director of the Development Research Center under the Fujian Provincial Government, raised eyebrows, when he said that political systems can be experimental, adding that a project could be launched in Pingtan, Fujian Province, to encourage bilateral cooperation on economic affairs.
“Since Taiwan has always been proud of its democratic system, China is open to a ‘political experiment’ at Pingtan Park. We [China] dare Taiwan to join the experiment,” Li said.
Democracies in the West and the East differ in form and character because of the difference in culture and background, Li added.
National Competitiveness Forum chief executive Hsieh Ming-hui (謝明輝) focused on a potential meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
“If re-elected in January, Ma is expected to accelerate cross-strait engagement in his second term to achieve a ‘breakthrough’ in bilateral relations,” Hsieh said.
With Hu scheduled to leave office in November next year, “the best time for the two leaders to meet falls between Taiwan’s presidential election and Hu’s departure,” Hsieh said.
The Ma-Hu meeting would be a new start for cross-strait relations and a catalyst for ensuing developments, such as a peace accord or a military confidence-building mechanism, he said.
Meanwhile, in a surprise move, Wang Teng-kun (王騰坤), an assistant professor at National Chung Cheng University and deputy director of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) youth department, challenged Straits Exchange Foundation Vice Chairman Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉) over his presentation earlier at the conference.
Kao’s briefing on cross-strait relations, Wang said, failed to mention how much Taiwan’s agricultural sector had suffered since the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) came into force.
In a brief response, Kao brushed off the criticism.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of