Schools face funding cuts for unreported China trips

• By Sam Garcia / Staff writer, with CNA

Schools are required to report cross-strait exchanges on a designated registration platform, and failure to do so properly could result in funding cuts, Deputy Minister of Education Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) said today.

A recent Control Yuan investigation found unequal cross-strait student exchanges and inaccurate reporting by schools.

The Chinese Communist Party has long regarded young Taiwanese as a major target of “united front” work, which has expanded from a focus on college students to also include elementary and high-school students, Control Yuan members Lin Wen-cheng (林文程) and Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said in a report on Aug. 3.

Cross-strait educational exchanges have surged since a dip during the COVID-19 pandemic, the members said.

The number of university students traveling to China for exchanges increased from 2,196 in 2022 to 5,745 last year, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Hsiu-pao (陳秀寳) said today at an Education and Culture Committee meeting, citing the Control Yuan’s investigation.

Meanwhile, the number of high-school students making such trips rose from 676 to 1,161, junior-high students from zero to 1,021 and elementary-school students from 38 to 1,045, Chen said.

The number of accompanying teachers increased from 661 to 1,281 in the same period, she added.

The Ministry of Education has failed to properly monitor its registration platform, which is often filled out after exchanges take place and does little to reveal whether activities involve “united front” efforts, she said.

Information about the organizations involved is often not publicly available, exchanges are not reciprocal and some activities could blur students’ sense of national identity, she added, urging the ministry to take action.

Chang Liao said that the ministry is working with the Mainland Affairs Council to manage the registration platform to ensure such exchanges are healthy rather than serving China’s “united front” efforts.

The ministry has repeatedly urged schools to strengthen internal oversight, denies official leave for exchanges to China during school terms and requires registration for exchanges during winter and summer breaks, he said, adding that schools would face cuts to exchange subsidies or equipment funding for breaking the rules.

Chen asked whether private universities that repeatedly fail to follow the guidelines would face additional penalties beyond funding cuts.

Subsidy cuts are a serious penalty for private schools, and those that fail to improve would face increasingly severe sanctions, Chang Liao said.

Cross-strait exchanges were once routine, but have increasingly involved integration and “united front” efforts, he added.

The ministry is working with the council to promote courses and activities at all schools that help students better understand China, cross-strait relations and the government’s cross-strait policy, Chang Liao said.

Next month and in October, the ministry would hold two training sessions for university faculty and staff responsible for handling cross-strait exchanges to strengthen their expertise, awareness and vigilance, he added.