After a recent e-mail from the Ministry of Education to school administrations asking them to show “concern” for student protesters caused a public uproar, a student rights advocacy group yesterday called on the ministry to show its support for student movements through policies, not e-mail.
“While the ministry called on school administrations to show ‘concern’ to students taking part in protests through an e-mail, the reality is that the ministry has not shown any true concern for the students; instead, it is allowing some universities to repress student movements,” Chang Fu-shun (張復舜), a medical student at Chang Gung University (CGU) and a spokesperson for the Student Rights Team, said through a press statement.
“We believe the ministry was motivated to send the e-mail by the fear of being held responsible by students’ parents and an authoritarian mentality,” Chang said.
Chang said the ministry is afraid that it may become the target of criticism from parents who do not support their children’s participation in student movements.
As such, it wanted written proof that it is paying close attention to what students are doing.
On the other hand, in the context of student movements, the term “concern” is often associated with threats and attempts by schools to bar students from taking part in demonstrations.
“For example, some universities would impose stricter curfews in student dorms because they are ‘concerned’ about students’ safety at night. CGU cuts the Internet connection at dorms at midnight because the school administration is ‘concerned’ that students may stay up all night playing online games,” Chang said. “Moreover, school officials or on-campus military education officers talk to students when student newspapers publish articles critical of school or government policies, saying they only want to show their ‘concern.’”
The term “showing concern” has always had a negative connotation among students, he said.
Chang said that while the ministry says it encourages student participation in public affairs, it has declined to intervene when universities ban students from taking part in or initiating demonstrations.
“Written rules in more than 70 of the 149 universities in the country — including National Cheng Kung University, National Taiwan University of Arts, the Taipei National University of the Arts and the Asia University — ban their students from taking part in demonstrations,” he said.
“When we petitioned the ministry asking them to intervene, officials said they had to respect the autonomy of universities,” Chang said.
“If ministry officials are truly concerned about students, they should show their concern through actual policy,” Chang said.
In response to the ministry’s e-mail, a number of students are coordinating a campaign to bombard the ministry with phone calls, saying “I am fine, thanks for your concern.”
Separately yesterday, Minister of Education Chiang Wei-ling (蔣偉寧) commented on the public uproar, saying he was saddened that the ministry’s good intentions had been twisted, adding that the ministry would think about how to show its good will in a better way.
Responding to a question about why he did not appear at the demonstrations to support students, Chiang said he was afraid that his appearance would create unnecessary problems, but added that he was fully supportive of students taking part in public affairs.
Additional reporting by Rachel Lin
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to