Taiwan’s universities open doors to students fleeing Hong Kong campus turmoil
- Affected students will be able to sit in on lectures at various colleges but will have to pass ministry review to qualify for a degree
“Regardless of whether they are from Taiwan or not, university students in Hong Kong whose studies have been interrupted by the protests in Hong Kong are welcome to register with a number of our universities here if they want to continue their studies,” the ministry said.
The offer follows a week of confrontations at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the University of Hong Kong and Polytechnic University in an escalation of anti-government protests marked by tear gas, rubber bullets, and petrol bombs.
Overseas universities urged exchange students studying at the campuses to leave and universities in Hong Kong announced an early end to the school semester.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said on Wednesday last week that it was expecting 284 of the island’s 1,021 students studying at Hong Kong universities to return home.
On Monday, Taipei-based National Taiwan University said it had received applications from 417 affected students, including 100 from Hong Kong and 240 from Taiwan. The rest were from Macau, mainland China and elsewhere.
