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The Ministry of Education has released the results of a satisfaction survey for the first graduating class of Chinese college students who study in Taiwan. Statistics show that more than 80% of Chinese students are satisfied with studying and living in Taiwan, and nearly 36% of the graduates are staying for higher studies.

However, the other survey shows, most Chinese students think that Taiwanese people lack understanding of China and the international situation. On the other hand, the evaluation of media professional liability received a score of less than three points out of a total of five.

CNA reports, the majority of Chinese students hold positive attitudes towards the education with 80.22% of them feeling satisfied with their studies and lives in Taiwan. 82.97% of them support the policy for Chinese students to study in Taiwan. But there are 85.99% that hope Chinese students can have the same rights as other foreign students regarding scholarships, health care and work permits.

As for Chinese students’ impression on Taiwan, according to another survey conducted by the Education Forum, they found that out of 5 points, the Taiwanese people’s public awareness of international issues scores 3.46, the degree of acceptance of multiculturalism scores 3.92, the people’s understanding of China scores 2.83 and the media professional liability scores 2.93.

Zhou Zhu-ying, professor at the Department of Education at National Chengchi University’s who is in charge of the survey, says that Chinese students believe the Taiwanese and media have limited knowledge and outdated stereotypes towards China. There are even teachers that ask them weird questions, such as if there are taxis and tall buildings in China, or if the toilets in China have doors.

The Chinese students also think that although Taiwanese people often travel abroad, they still don’t have deeper understandings of global issues. Many Chinese students found the TV programs open and interesting when they first came to Taiwan, but later they realize that there is a lack of international news and the media is not professional enough.

UDN reports, Chinese student Cai Bo-yi from National Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of Buildings and Planning says that the survey result is one-sided. She says, four years ago when she just arrived in Taiwan to study in university, people often asked her some silly questions. But three years after Chinese students are allowed to come study in Taiwan, her classmates have deeper understandings of China, and started to ask her about issues like the urban-rural gap and rural education in China.

In addition, the prayer room in Taipei Main Station and support of Muslim’s Eid al-Fitr are things cannot be seen in China, showing that Taiwan has been embracing different cultures.

NOWnews reports that Zhou also mentions that since China prohibits Taiwanese public universities from openly recruiting Chinese students, not only private businesses have doubts about Taiwanese university certificates, many Chinese parents’ ideal universities are not the public ones, but the prestigious private universities. Taiwan’s public universities still have room for improvement on their reputation.

On the other hand, Chinese students consider it a differential treatment that they are prohibited from applying for internships or research assistants. Currently, except for a small number of private fundraising or school-funded research assistants, almost all graduate students from China are unable to apply for these positions.

Translated by Vic Chiang
Edited by Olivia Yang

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