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Ma defends plan to allow Chinese to
study in Taiwan
By Mo Yan-chih
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Aug 19, 2010, Page 3
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday defended the
government’s plan to allow Chinese students into Taiwan as a foundation for
peace across the Taiwan Strait. He also dismissed concerns that Chinese students
would abuse the nation’s educational resources and affect the quality of
education.
Describing the policy as an “unstoppable trend,” Ma said Chinese students would
bring challenges for local students and help raise their competitiveness.
“Allowing Chinese students in Taiwan is a major milestone that will have a great
impact on cross-strait relations … The issue is not about whether or not the
policy is pro-China, but about making our campuses more international and
turning education into an industry,” said Ma, addressing the Chinese Nationalist
Party’s (KMT) weekly Central Standing Committee in his capacity as party
chairman.
Ahead of cross-party negotiations in the legislature today over whether to adopt
a series of restrictions on Chinese students, the KMT invited Minister of
Education Wu Ching-chi (吳清基) to present a report yesterday on follow-up plans
and measures after three amendments to allow Chinese students in Taiwan passed
the legislature.
Wu called on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to support the revision of
the three amendments that will allow Chinese into local post-secondary
educational institutions and recognize some Chinese academic credentials, and
said the opposition will “lose big” if it continues to oppose the proposed
amendments.
The lawmakers remained at odds over whether a set of proposed restrictions on
Chinese students should be written into law, with the DPP accusing Ma of being
against barring Chinese students from paid work during their studies.
Brushing off the DPP’s accusations, Wu said the Act Governing the Relations
Between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) already
banned Chinese students from taking part-time jobs. The Employment Services Law
(就業服務法) also stipulates that foreigners, including Chinese, cannot work in
Taiwan without permission, he said.
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chao Chien-min (趙健民) said the council
would revise the regulations and put some of the so-called “three limits and six
noes” restrictions into law, including not recognizing Chinese certificates in
medicine-related areas and barring Chinese students from taking civil service
examinations.
The “three limits” refer to restrictions on the number of Chinese universities
that the government plans to recognize, the number of Chinese college students
able to enter Taiwan and the types of Chinese diplomas that could be accredited
in Taiwan.
Under the “six noes,” Chinese students would not be given extra credits on
examinations, recruitment of Chinese would not affect the number of Taiwanese
students allowed to enroll, Chinese would not be eligible for scholarships and
would not be allowed to moonlight, take civil service examinations, obtain
professional licenses or stay in Taiwan to work after graduation.
Ma said yesterday the government would also try to attract more students from
Malaysia, Vietnam and other Asian countries to study in Taiwan, and follow the
example of the US and Australia to make education a profitable industry.
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