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Taiwan's MOE Refuses Forcing Private Colleges and Universities to Change Names

(Entry by Yingxia Cao)

PROPHE Summary:
Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan announced not to force private universities and colleges to change names after opposition lawmakers threatened to freeze a huge portion of the ministry's budget. The ministry had sent a letter to all universities and colleges with the words "China," "Chinese" or "Chunghwa" (Chinese) in their names and asked them to change their names to underscore Taiwan's identity and avoid confusion with mainland China following Taiwan's executive cabinet plan of changing the names of all of the nation's overseas missions and state-owned enterprises before the Dec. 11 legislative elections, which raised sharp criticisms from legislators of the opposition party.

For the full story see Global News Wire - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, China Post. "MOE Denies Forcing Private Universities to Change Names", January 21, 2005. Also see "After an Uproar, Taiwanese Ministry Disavows Effort to Purge 'China' From Colleges' Names". The Chronicle of Higher education, February 1, 2005. Available online at http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/02/2005020104n.htm.

 

PROPHE Observation:
Private colleges and universities worldwide typically include a specific country or region name in their names to gain a public image of legitimacy, which often causes governmental control. The executive educational ministries in many countries or regions often try to control such usage for the reason of education quality. However, the Taiwan case is atypical in that the MOE asked all colleges and universities to remove the words "China," "Chinese" or "Chunghwa" (Chinese) from their names is solely for political reason.
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