Taiwan lifts ban on foreign students, but keeps Chinese out

New policy angers Taiwanese rights advocates, who label it 'discriminatory'

20200821 National Taiwan University

National Taiwan University. A decision to bar Chinese students from entering Taiwan, apart from those graduating in the current academic year, has left around 5,000 Chinese students in limbo.

NICK ASPINWALL, Contributing writer

TAIPEI -- Taiwan lifted an entry ban on returning international university students earlier this month, in yet another signal of its successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But when deputy education minister Lio Mon-chi told reporters on Aug. 4 that Chinese students would be allowed to enter Taiwan, he was whisked away from the podium by advisers only to return with a clarification: The reopening would not apply to most Chinese students, he said, due to "cross-strait related considerations."

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