Taiwan bans exchanges with 7 Chinese universities over security concerns

Taipei, Feb. 28 (CNA) Education Minister Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said Friday that universities in Taiwan are prohibited from engaging in exchanges with seven universities under China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) due to concerns key Taiwanese technologies could be "stolen."

The ban had been imposed as such exchanges "could potentially involve many key Taiwanese technologies being inadvertently stolen," said Cheng in a YouTube program run by the Chinese-language newspaper Liberty Times.

However, he did not reveal when the exchange ban was imposed during the program which aired on Friday morning.

The seven Chinese universities under MIIT are known as "the national defense seven," Cheng said, including Beihang University, Beijing Institute of Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, and Harbin Engineering University.

Cheng said that the seven universities are "highly regarded institutions" and remain on the list of overseas universities and higher education institutions whose qualifications are recognized by the Ministry of Education (MOE).

However, if those universities were to come under China's United Front Work Department (UFWD) or the People's Liberation Army in the future, they would no longer be recognized, Cheng said.

Later Friday, the MOE said in a written reply to CNA that the seven universities are "closely linked" to China's defense and military industries, noting that exchanges and collaboration between domestic universities and institutions affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, Chinese government, or Chinese military are "deemed inappropriate."

Such exchanges and collaboration "may serve specific political agendas," the ministry added.

The ban aims to "safeguard [Taiwanese] students' right to education and protect Taiwan's core technologies and research achievements," the MOE said.

The exchange ban, revealed on Friday, followed an announcement by Cheng on Feb. 20, in which he said that the MOE will no longer recognize qualifications from three institutions affiliated with the UFWD.

Any cooperation or interaction between Taiwanese universities and those three UFWD-affiliated schools -- Huaqiao University, Jinan University, and Beijing Chinese Language and Culture College -- is also banned by the MOE, according to Cheng.

Meanwhile, Chen Wen-chang (陳文章), chairperson of the Association of National Universities of Taiwan, told reporters that while universities always support academic exchanges, national security should take priority if concerns arise.

However, Chen, who also serves as president of National Taiwan University, questioned the scope of the ban, citing as an example an academic conference attended by Chinese scholars from the seven prohibited universities and asking whether Taiwanese scholars are now permitted to participate.

He added that common forms of cross-strait academic exchanges include faculty and student visits, joint research projects, and co-authored papers, as well as inviting scholars to give lectures.

The MOE should set clear guidelines on prohibited activities to help universities manage such exchanges more effectively, Chen said.