China is systematically recruiting young Taiwanese academics to achieve “academic integration with Taiwan” and take the lead in research and technology, a recent report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said.
The report, titled “On Taiwanese Citizens Teaching in China in Recent Years,” showed changes in Taiwan’s higher-education ecosystem and an increasing number of Taiwanese taking higher-education teaching positions in China.
Beijing is recruiting Taiwanese for professorships, especially in Fujian Province, where the provincial government introduced subsidies for full-time higher-education teachers from Taiwan from 2015 to 2018 and extended this policy from 2021 to next year, the report said.
Photo: Taipei Times
In 2009, China’s State Council published a report supporting Fujian in “accelerating the economic development of the west coast of the Taiwan Strait,” showing the province’s unique position in cross-strait relations.
This carries significant implications for peaceful unification strategies and economic and political exchanges across the Strait, the report said.
Taiwanese higher-education teachers in China include those who pursued higher education in Taiwan, China and abroad, it said.
Some of them were educated in China from a young age, others studied in Taiwan, but received their final degree in China, or studied and worked abroad or in Taiwan, but later found work in China, it said.
They choose to work in China to settle down there, get a higher salary or had no other option, because of a lack of job opportunities in Taiwan, the report said.
As higher-education teachers often conduct research in fields tied to academic development, industrial growth, technology and national security, the report recommended Taiwan establish more comprehensive laws for professionals with critical expertise taking up teaching positions at Chinese universities to protect national interests.
Although Taiwan’s higher education sector is brimming with talent, many Taiwanese doctoral graduates teach in China, because they cannot find positions locally, National Cheng Kung University political science professor Hung Ching-fu (洪敬富) said on Sunday last week.
Since Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) came to power, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office has coordinated with universities to pursue “academic integration with Taiwan,” systematically recruiting young Taiwanese academics to “serve the motherland” and hoping to leverage their professional networks in Taiwan, Hung said.
With the US-China technology war making it increasing difficult for Chinese students to study in the US, Beijing has been recruiting Taiwanese talent with backgrounds in science, engineering or postdoctoral research to take control of advanced technology development, he said.
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