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By Lery Hiciano / Editor, with CNA
A legislative committee yesterday froze NT$250,000 of the Ministry of Education's (MOE) travel budget for China due to questions over its use, while Education Minister Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said the ministry was considering allowing Chinese students living in third regions to travel. study in Taiwan.
During a meeting of the legislative education and culture committee to review the ministry's budget, the committee said the funds would only be released after the ministry submits a written report.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) said that as the ministry's proposal for the use of the NT$755,000 allocated for China-related travel expenses lacked detailed explanations, it should be reduced or frozen.
Photo: ANC
If cross-Strait relations improve enough to allow visits, the funds could be used, but the budget proposal was not detailed enough, added KMT lawmaker Wan Mei-ling (萬美玲) .
KMT lawmaker Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) said that if the ministry had not used such funds in recent years, that part of the budget should be frozen rather than cut entirely.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) agreed, saying that to maintain goodwill and enable cross-strait trade, spending should be frozen rather than eliminated.
Freezing funds could give the ministry flexibility in promoting related initiatives, said DPP lawmaker Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜).
Relations and negotiations with interlocutors vary depending on the situation and are sometimes uncertain, the ministry said, asking legislators to allow it to retain funding in order to maintain its flexibility.
The ministry is already considering measures to allow Chinese students from third regions to study in Taiwan, Cheng said.
The budget also includes funding to recruit students from Hong Kong and Macau, said Vice Minister of Education Lin Teng-chiao (林騰蛟).
Instead of removing the entire amount, NT$250,000 could be frozen, he said, a proposal approved by the commission.
