There were more than 110,000 overseas students enrolled at Taiwanese universities last year, accounting for 8.27 percent of the nation’s university student population, the Ministry of Education said yesterday.
The number of foreign students rose by 16,537 last year to 110,182, according to ministry statistics.
Department of International and Cross-strait Education section head Liu Su-miao (劉素妙) said last year’s surge “caught us by surprise” and she attributed it mainly to 7,000 more Chinese students.
It also reflected more aggressive recruiting efforts overseas by local universities, which have been hit by declining enrollment by Taiwanese students because of the nation’s low birth rate over the past two decades, Liu said.
The figures also show that the ministry’s objective to increase the number of foreign students from 30,000 in 2008 to more than 100,000 this year had been met.
The government’s aim is to turn Taiwan into an “advanced learning powerhouse” in the Asia-Pacific region, Liu said.
Ministry statistics also showed that the number of foreign students pursuing advanced degrees increased by 6,000 last year.
Foreign students mainly come from Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Macau and Vietnam, in that order.
There was also a sharp increase in the number of students from India, Indonesia and Myanmar, Liu said, adding that her department expects to further diversify its sources of students in the future and hopes to recruit 150,000 foreign students a year by 2021.
The ministry said that Taiwan has built a reputation for having a friendly learning environment after easing regulations on overseas students, offering more scholarships and promoting a counseling system.
The focus now would be to encourage overseas students to remain in Taiwan to work after graduation and give the nation’s private sector more access to overseas graduates, it said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
RSS