Taiwan Today

In a Nov. 5 interview with the “United Daily News,” David Ho, an academician with Academia Sinica, said he was concerned that fewer and fewer students from Taiwan are pursuing advanced studies in the United States. Compared with 20 or 30 years ago, far fewer students from Taiwan now pursue graduate work in the U.S., said Ho, a noted AIDS researcher and “Time” magazine’s Man of the Year in 1996. Taiwan should not underestimate the importance of fostering talented individuals with an international perspective, according to Ho. Ho was interviewed after giving a speech at the “7th Annual Global Chinese Business Leaders Summit.” He noted that the number of students of Chinese ancestry studying in the U.S. has not diminished in recent years, but most of these now come from mainland China. Mainland Chinese students now far outnumber those from Taiwan or Hong Kong, Ho pointed out. Many students from Taiwan who studied in the U.S. have made significant contributions to their chosen fields. But now more and more people want to “find a job and settle down” right after graduating from college. Some also think studying abroad is not important, since they can receive a quality education at home. It is understandable that people would feel this way, Ho said. But he emphasized that the kind of training received in a large nation such as the U.S. can broaden one’s vision, something that no scientist can do without. Chen Tai-jen, vice president of National Taiwan University, said Nov. 5 that starting from about 15 years ago there was indeed a decline in the number of local students that study abroad. He pointed out, however, that in recent years this number has increased again. About 40 percent of recent graduates of the Department of Electrical Engineering at NTU study abroad, for example, a rate comparable to past ones. Lin Tsong-ming, deputy minister of education, said that neither the faculty nor the facilities at Taiwan’s schools are inferior to those of other nations. This, he said, is why fewer students have been going abroad. But Lin agreed that students who did not study abroad lack an international perspective. If fewer students study in the U.S., the influence of Taiwan in the U.S. will decline—an undesirable situation, he said. The Ministry of Education has been encouraging students to study abroad, and the numbers are slowly increasing. Wu Chung-yu, president of National Chiao Tung University, said that the semiconductor, information technology, and optoelectronic sectors, among others, offer plenty of job opportunities for college graduates. Thus many graduates have chosen to stay in Taiwan rather than to study abroad. Wu noted further that his school has encouraged study abroad programs. The fact that the time period for military service has been shortened to 11 months has also made students more willing to study abroad. Liu Ching-jen, director-general of the Department of International Cultural and Educational Relations under the MOE, pointed that the number of students studying abroad has in fact been increasing gradually over the last 10 years. In 1998 there were 26,000 students studying abroad, a number that had risen to 37,000 by 2008. More students are studying abroad not only in the U.S., Liu said, but also in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Ho was born in Taiwan but immigrated to the United States with his family while he was still in grade school. (HZW)