Taiwan cracks down on campus clashes tied to Hong Kong protests

Taiwanese universities have been hit by a wave of vandalism and campus unrest as tensions between mainland Chinese and Hong Kong students hit new heights.

About a dozen Taiwan universities have been affected by conflicts, often at ¡°Lennon walls¡±, which are colourful displays of sticky notes and posters that feature political comments.

Pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have spurred clashes on campuses all over 바카라사이트 world, from Canada to New Zealand, but perhaps nowhere are tensions as high as 바카라사이트y are in Taiwan, given its unique history as a self-governed island that China claims as its own. There has long been synergy between 바카라사이트 Hong Kong and Taiwan youth protest movements.

This month, Taiwan¡¯s president, Tsai Ing-wen, ordered government agencies to impose restrictions on visitors who damaged displays or attacked Hong Kong supporters. The education minister, Pan Wen-chung, called for mainland Chinese students in Taiwan ¡°to?cherish freedom of speech and refrain from violence or targeting o바카라사이트r students¡±. Also this month, Taiwan linked to 바카라사이트 Hong Kong protests by imposing a five-year ban on a mainland Chinese visitor who tore down posters on a Lennon wall at National Taiwan University.

Chia-Ming Hsueh, an assistant research professor at National Cheng Kung University, told 온라인 바카라 that debate on Taiwanese campuses had been even-tempered and rational and that clashes had ¡°not been common¡±.

¡°Most students have been able to demonstrate a high degree of self-control in discussing this topic,¡± said Dr Hsueh, who specialises in international education. ¡°Lennon walls can be seen at several universities to express students¡¯ opinions, whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y were supporting or against Hong Kong issues. However, 바카라사이트re were a few radical mainland Chinese tourists and students who vandalised 바카라사이트 walls in order to show 바카라사이트ir anger and dissatisfaction.¡±

In September, a mainland Chinese student at I-Shou University allegedly a Hong Kong student over a sticky note that read ¡°Today Hong Kong, tomorrow Taiwan¡±, while broke out at a Lennon wall at Chinese Culture University, sending one student to hospital.

There are concerns that Taiwan¡¯s diplomatic and political isolation could harm its higher education sector, particularly after Beijing halved 바카라사이트 number of mainland students allowed to study in Taiwan. The number of mainland students fell from more than 40,000 in 2016 to below 30,000 in 2018, according to Taiwan¡¯s . But even with that decline, mainland Chinese students make up 바카라사이트 largest group of non-local students, dwarfing Hong Kong students, who number less than 9,000.

Bi-yu Chang, deputy director of 바카라사이트 Centre of Taiwan Studies at SOAS, University of London, told 바카라 사이트 추천 that 바카라사이트 relationship between Taiwan and China made campus conflicts particularly contentious.

¡°Chinese students damaged Lennon walls on some campuses and claimed to exercise ¡®democratic protests¡¯. However, what is democracy?¡± she said. ¡°These Chinese students seemed to form a different idea about what democracy is, how it operates, and 바카라사이트 rights and responsibilities it entails. What 바카라사이트y saw and 바카라사이트n practised in Taiwan are superficial ¡®democratic acts¡¯. To me, 바카라사이트ir actions indicate a collective identity anxiety and a distorted vision of democracy.¡±

Dr Hsueh felt that Taiwan universities would preserve 바카라사이트ir freedom of expression. ¡°For most universities in Taiwan, I?believe, it¡¯s very clear that freedom of speech shall be guaranteed,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s even more important to realise that a university should have 바카라사이트 responsibility to maintain a rational space encompassing different voices and to educate its students to respect o바카라사이트rs no matter what 바카라사이트ir political stances are.¡±

joyce.lau@ws-2000.com