Higher education in art in the nation’s south is under threat by a government plan to merge Tainan National University of the Arts (TNNUA) and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), TNNUA students and faculty members said at a protest in Taipei yesterday.
Outside the Ministry of Education and the nearby Legislative Yuan, about 200 campaigners protested against the ministry’s plan, chanting slogans such as: “The system is murdering art,” “The arts need a southern perspective” and “Restore the north-south balance in art [education].”
Lawmakers who oppose the plan to merge the universities and were present at the protest panned the ministry, saying a motion had been passed by a legislative committee to halt the proposed merger.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
Ministry of Education Secretary-General Wang Chun-chuan (王俊權) later issued a statement saying that the ministry would suspend the proposed merger as requested by the legislature, adding that it had “heard the voice of the faculty members and students.”
Ku Shih-yung (顧世勇), an installation artist and director of the Graduate Institute of Plastic Arts at TNNUA, said the merger would compromise the university’s unique educational model.
TNNUA focuses on individual mentoring and apprenticeship to train high-achieving artists based on European models, and the university’s students have a proven record at international exhibitions and competitions, Ku said.
However, the university’s achievements have not been recognized by the ministry’s performance metrics, which rate universities on quantitative rather than qualitative terms, Ku said.
As a result, the ministry has made a “highly unreasonable” demand for TNNUA to merge with NCKU on budgetary grounds alone, despite NCKU proving incapable of offering any clear educational vision for the arts, Ku added.
TNNUA student representative Cheng Hsiang-yu (鄭翔羽) said the university’s small size is an intended feature for its mission to promote artistic excellence, not a defect as the ministry perceived it to be.
The ministry has failed to grasp the internationally recognized necessity of having dedicated art schools with administrative autonomy, and its merger plan is a violation of the government’s stated policy for balanced distribution of resources in the north and south, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Li-chun said.
DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said that private-sector actors have been working hard to promote education in the arts, but the government seems to be busy “killing it,” adding: “I am against amalgamation for the sake of amalgamation.”
DPP Legislator Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書) also lambasted the ministry as having led a “top-down effort” to “kill TNNUA’s founding spirit,” saying that the Education and Culture Committee earlier yesterday passed an impromptu motion to demand the ministry suspend the merger.
The ministry made plans to merge the universities because of TNNUA’s small size, remote location, low rating in performance metrics, a 70 percent subsidization rate of its budget and concerns over the school’s ability to enroll students, a ministry statement said.
The scheme would not have set a timetable for implementation and TNNUA would have been able to opt out by providing an alternative plan of improvement to its educational and fiscal performance, the ministry added.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
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
POLICY UNCHANGED? Despite Trump’s remarks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured that US policy toward Taiwan has remained consistent since the 1970s US President Donald Trump on Wednesday again refused to make clear his stance on protecting Taiwan from a hypothetical takeover by China during his presidency. Asked by a reporter during a Cabinet meeting whether it was his policy that China would never take Taiwan by force while he is president, Trump declined to give a definitive answer. “I never comment on that,” he said. “I don’t comment on it because I don’t want to ever put myself in that position.” Trump also reiterated that he has a “great relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and said that Washington welcomes good relations with
RSS