DPP blamed for fall in mainland students studying in Taiwan

Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, rejected on Wednesday a claim by Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council that mainland policies had led to zero new mainland students studying in Taiwan for five consecutive years, calling the accusation a distortion of facts and a smear.

Zhu said the Democratic Progressive Party authorities have, in recent years, obstructed cross-Strait exchanges and ignored strong demand from Taiwan's education sector and young people for greater interaction.

She said the DPP authorities have restricted educational exchanges and cooperation across the Strait, including by banning Taiwan colleges and universities from cooperating with 10 mainland universities, such as Jinan University in Guangdong province and Beihang University in Beijing.

They have also imposed unreasonable restrictions and unfair treatment on mainland students seeking to study in Taiwan, she said.

At the same time, Zhu said, the DPP authorities have pressured some Taiwan university presidents, deans and teachers after they took part in exchange activities on the mainland, including through investigations, funding cuts and project suspensions.

"Such political manipulation has seriously undermined normal cross-strait educational exchanges," Zhu said.

She urged the DPP authorities to listen more to public opinion on the island and stop shifting blame through political maneuvering.