Taiwan lifts ban on foreign students, but keeps Chinese out

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

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

August 21, 2020 12:49 JST

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."