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.
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
STAY VIGILANT: When experiencing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, such as dizziness or fatigue, near a water heater, open windows and doors to ventilate the area Rooftop flue water heaters should only be installed outdoors or in properly ventilated areas to prevent toxic gas from building up, the Yilan County Fire Department said, after a man in Taipei died of carbon monoxide poisoning on Monday last week. The 39-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), an assistant professor at Providence University in Taichung, was at his Taipei home for the holidays when the incident occurred, news reports said. He was taking a shower in the bathroom of a rooftop addition when carbon monoxide — a poisonous byproduct of combustion — leaked from a water heater installed in a poorly ventilated
RSS