Beijing bars students from starting courses in Taiwan amid coronavirus fallout
- Those who have already started studying can continue to do so but permission for new students will be denied for the rest of the year, mainland says
- Taipei has banned thousands of mainlanders from returning to the island to prevent an outbreak
“In view of the novel coronavirus outbreak and current relationship between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, we have decided to suspend the operation regarding [permission] for mainland graduates of various academic levels to study in Taiwan in 2020,” the mainland’s Ministry of Education said.
“Those who have already studied in Taiwan and want to continue studying there can choose to do so.”
The ministry said Taiwanese students wanting to study on the mainland could also continue to do so.
Many mainland students returned home for the Lunar New Year holiday in January but about 7,000 have not been able to go back to Taiwan since then because of Taipei’s temporary ban on visits by mainlanders to contain the pandemic.
The island’s health minister, Chen Shih-chung, said on February 3 that a temporary ban on mainland Chinese students returning to Taiwan was necessary to reduce the risk of a local Covid-19 outbreak.