Taiwanese undergraduates at Chinese mainland universities will
pay the same tuition fees as their mainland peers starting this
term, which begins in September.
They also will become the beneficiaries of a newly launched
scholarship fund, which will distribute funds of?seven million
yuan (US$864,000) every year.
The announcements were made at a press conference in Beijing
yesterday by Dai Xiaofeng, director of the Department for Exchange
of the Office for Taiwan Affairs of the State Council.
When the new university term begins next month, Taiwanese
students will be charged the same tuition and boarding fees as
their mainland classmates who live in the same dorms and study at
the same colleges, Dai said.
Wu Guosheng, an official with the Ministry of Finance, said a
scholarship would be awarded to 20 percent of Taiwanese students
studying on the mainland every year.
The ministry will also offer special subsidies of about 8,000
yuan (US$918) per student per year to institutions that enroll
Taiwanese students, based on the extra educational costs they
incur, Wu said.
Ding Yuqiu, deputy director of the Office for Hong Kong, Macao
and Taiwan under the Ministry of Education, said Taiwanese students
who apply for the scholarship fall into two categories: those
enrolled from the joint examination and those enrolled by 10
universities in Fujian
and Guangdong
provinces that have a separate right to recruit students from
Taiwan.
The new policy has been widely applauded by undergraduates.
The average annual tuition for Taiwanese undergraduates studying
on the mainland used to be about US$1,000 to 1,500, their mainland
classmates had to pay the equivalent of US$367.
Ding said similar policies for students from Hong Kong and Macao
are being considered.
Last year, she said, 1,777 Taiwanese students chose to further
their studies on the mainland, a record high since mainland
colleges began enrolling Taiwanese students in 1985.
The decision is seen as an implementation of the agreement
reached in May by President Hu
Jintao, former Kuomintang Party Chairman Lien Chan, and People
First Party Chairman James Soong.
It was agreed that one of the ways of encouraging Taiwanese
students to study in mainland colleges would be to equalize tuition
fees.
Taiwanese university students and teachers attending a seminar
in Xiamen warmly welcomed Beijing's decision. Chou Szu-tao, a
student at Taiwan University, said the move will encourage more
Taiwanese students to study on the mainland and help them know more
about the mainland.
"It's really good news because lots of students have long been
anticipating it," she said.
Charles Chiu, an assistant professor with Shih Hsin University,
hailed the policy as a positive step towards improving
cross-Straits relations.
"It demonstrates the mainland's sincerity in safeguarding the
interests of the Taiwanese people," he said.
"It will benefit cross-Straits exchanges as a whole."
(China Daily August 25, 2005)
?