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The head of the Office of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs, the Ministry of Education (MOE) recently stated in an interview that, since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, the MOE had been closely monitoring the status of students studying in Taiwan and taken practical and effective measures to ensure the protection of legitimate rights and interests of Taiwanese students studying in mainland HEIs. The MOE also demanded that Taiwan authorities should fulfill their responsibility to protect the rights of mainland students who were entitled to study but unable to return to their schools in Taiwan due to restrictions by island authorities.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the MOE has required all HEIs in the mainland to also closely monitor the situation with regards to Taiwanese students and adopt appropriate preventive measures, including giving students advice about self-protection against the disease, organizing online-learning activities and safeguarding their health and safety. Many HEIs have launched thoughtful and heartwarming initiatives for Taiwanese students, such as creating health records for them, providing online therapy and counseling, customizing personalized courses, organizing recreational activities and involving them in community service. Some Taiwanese students participated in local community volunteer projects to disseminate knowledge and information about epidemic prevention to community residents, making their own contribution to the fight against COVID-19. To date, no Taiwanese student studying in mainland has been infected by the disease. The mainland HEIs will decide on their reopening dates, taking into consideration the developments of epidemic prevention and control, while integrating the work on Taiwanese students into their joint prevention and control mechanism.
Because the Taiwan authorities suspended entry for mainland citizens on February 6 although HEIs in Taiwan begin their new semester in late February or early March, most mainland students who are enrolled in Taiwan universities and colleges have been prevented from going back to school, seriously infringing their legitimate rights and interests. Despite mainland students’ disappointment and objections, the island authorities did nothing to address the issue, and relevant HEIs made no arrangements to help their mainland students return to campus, trying instead to escape their responsibility. The MOE therefore demanded that the Taiwan authorities immediately make changes to the unreasonable restrictions to mainland students and halt their negligence towards the rights of mainland students to resume their studies. The relevant HEIs have been summoned to pay due attention to the concerns of their mainland students whose studies have been hindered and delayed, and take remedial measures, through waiver of tuition and fees as well as dormitory fees, improvement in both quantity and quality of online courses, and proper handling of problems faced by these mainland students.