The Ministry of Education today agreed to discuss the potential of allowing Chinese students in Hong Kong and Japan to study in Taiwan, following a suggestion from a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker.
Legislator Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) made the suggestion during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee, where Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) was invited to give a policy update.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Cheng promised to assess the suggestion in detail, with the caveat that China has so far seemed uninterested in allowing for student exchanges.
After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China suspended the entry of new students to Taiwan. Only those who are currently continuing their studies, such as an undergraduate student who went on to pursue a master's degree, have been allowed to remain.
In his inaugural speech in May, President William Lai (賴清德) mentioned bilateral tourism and student exchanges as a way for both sides to restart positive engagement and pursue common goals.
Cheng said that since assuming the ministerial role, he has tried to communicate with his counterparts in China about the issue, but that their attitude has been closed off so far.
The lack of communication also makes it difficult to estimate how many Chinese students would be interested in studying in Taiwan, and the ministry has instead focused on attracting students from Southeast Asia, Europe and the US, he said.
While he said he understood the difficulties, Lo raised concerns about Taiwan falling behind other countries in the race to attract the best and brightest college students.
In addition to accepting Chinese students, Lo suggested opening overseas Chinese-language schools or targeting Chinese students already in Hong Kong and Japan.
There are many Chinese students in Hong Kong willing to come to Taiwan, Lo said, to which Cheng replied that the ministry would have more detailed internal discussions on the matter.
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
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
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
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS