Taiwan has told universities they must end academic exchanges with Chinese universities affiliated with an influential arm of the Beijing government or risk losing government subsidies.

The Ministry of Education (MoE) has forbidden the island¡¯s universities from collaborating with three mainland institutions, including through academic and student exchanges, citing concerns about the their connections to Beijing¡¯s United Front Work Department (UFWD), the?.?

The rules apply to both public and private universities; although the latter are not under government control, they do receive central financial subsidies, which, policymakers suggested, would be taken away if they failed to comply.

The UFWD is widely perceived to be responsible for carrying out influencing missions abroad on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, but there is limited knowledge of the precise nature of its work.?

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Cheng Ying-yao, Taiwan¡¯s education minister, told journalists that universities affiliated with the UFWD were not ¡°normal academic-oriented¡± institutions and said they instead served a political purpose. The institutions he identified as linked to the organisation were Jinan University, Huaqiao University and the Beijing Chinese Language and Culture College.?

The latter two institutions have around 2,100 Taiwanese students enrolled, according to the MoE.

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The island will stop recognising qualifications from blacklisted institutions, although currently, of the three, only qualifications from Jinan University are automatically recognised in Taiwan.?

China has repeatedly granted favourable admission requirements to students from Taiwan in what?many see as a bid for soft power?among young people.?

Unnamed sources told the?Taipei Times?that the UFWD-linked universities have ¡°extremely low standards¡± for Taiwanese students, while an ex-student of Huaqiao University suggested that the education there included ¡°Xi Jinping thought¡± and anti-US sentiment.

Commenting on the new policy, Chiu Chui-cheng, Taiwan¡¯s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) minister, said that the government continued to welcome Chinese students to Taiwan, but that Beijing¡¯s regulations were responsible for limited academic exchanges with China.

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Since the pandemic, China has placed a de facto ban on its citizens enrolling in Taiwanese universities,?despite calls from the island¡¯s president?to resume them.?

However, cross-strait exchanges in various forms do still happen. In December 2024, a visit to Taiwan by a group of Chinese students generated controversy after one of the delegates referred to Taiwan¡¯s baseball team as the ¡°China Taipei team¡±. This sparked demonstrations at Taiwanese universities against the visit and led to the MAC to issue a warning to the foundation that organised the trip.?

Taiwanese students are still permitted to study at Chinese universities, with an estimated 12,000 currently doing so, according to Chinese state media.

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com