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Liberty Times: Universities in Taiwan Must Sign “One China” Agreement to Get Exchange Students from the Mainland

Liberty Times published an article which expressed concern about the fact that universities in Taiwan are required to sign an agreement if they want to get exchange students from the mainland. In the agreement they have to promise that the university’s teaching materials will not involve politics or contain information opposing the “One China” policy. According to the article, even though the requirement violates the freedom of academic exchange, some universities in Taiwan still went ahead and signed the agreement. The article expressed the concern that, “The mainland may use the opportunity to enroll exchange students in order to exercise its control over freedom of speech and over the academic environment in Taiwan.” Shih Hsin University is one of the universities that was mentioned in the article. It has academic exchanges with over 50 universities and colleges in the mainland. However, since February 2015, three (mainland) colleges initiated the requirement for Shih Hsin University to sign the agreement. Shih Hsin didn’t disclose which those were but noted that there are 30 to 45 exchange students who come from these three universities each year. In addition the Liberty Times mentioned that St. Johns University also signed a similar agreement.

Source: Liberty Times, March 2, 2017
http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/focus/paper/1082360
http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/politics/breakingnews/1991258