CHINA-TAIWAN: Strengthening academic ties

After a year of debate that on several occasions descended into fisticuffs, Taiwanese legislators last week opted for pragmatism over nationalism and put the finishing touches to amendments that will allow about 2,000 mainland Chinese students to enter Taiwan's graduate and undergraduate university programmes every year, writes David Cyranoski for Nature News. The change, to be finalised this month, will open the door to a large and much-needed pool of young minds for Taiwan's universities as early as this autumn.

Taiwan has strong research universities but a shortage of students. Many mainlanders already head to Taiwan for postdoctoral studies, and some go as short-term graduate or undergraduate exchange students. But, thus far, Taiwanese law has barred them from graduate or undergraduate degree programmes.

Taiwan's Chinese Nationalist Party government proposed relaxing these rules more than a year ago, as part of a warming relationship with mainland China. But, fearing that both universities and the workforce could be overrun by mainlanders, opposition party members resisted, with some resorting to grappling a speaker to the floor of the legislature last month in an attempt to block the motion. On 10 May, violence broke out again before a subcommittee finalised the amendments.
Full report on the Nature News site

A bill that would open Taiwan universities to Chinese students may not be passed during the current legislative session, due to the Democratic Progressive Party's use of a parliamentary procedure to keep the legislation from being sent to the entire Legislature for review, the United Evening News reported last week.
Full report on The China Post site