CHAIWAN: Hoping for a Miracle on University Campuses

CHAIWAN: Hoping for a Miracle on University Campuses
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
July 20, 2009

Beijing has announced that it will allow students from Taiwan to apply to Mainland universities on the basis of their Taiwan test scores. Will this turn the Mainland into a black hole that drains Taiwan of its brains? Or will it establish a new platform enabling win/win cross-Strait exchanges?

Cross-Strait problems cannot be satisfactorily resolved at this moment. For their solution, we must look to the future. We can only hope they will find resolution ten, twenty, thirty years, or even longer from now. In other words, we must look to future generations of young people on Taiwan and the Mainland. From this perspective, Beijing's decision to allow students from Taiwan to apply to Mainland universities on the basis of their Taiwan test scores is certain to set off a chain reaction. One can only hope that improved relations among universities across the Taiwan Strait will lead to improved cross-Strait relations.

After six decades of political turmoil, we have finally extricated ourselves from such outmoded thinking as "Retake the mainland!" and "Liberate Taiwan!" During the past two years the two sides have finally reached a new consensus regarding peace and reconciliation. This may be the best legacy the authorities on both sides of the Taiwan Strait can leave future generations. Alas, it may be the only legacy. Can future generations create a win/win scenario based on the current atmosphere of peace and reconciliation? That remains to be seen. This heavy responsibility will fall on the shoulders of the coming generation on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Therefore, we cautiously endorse Beijing's decision to allow students from Taiwan to apply to Mainland universities on the basis of their Taiwan test scores. We cautiously endorse the joint study of a "dual degree policy" being conducted by National Taiwan University and Beijing University. We cautiously endorse allowing Mainland students to study on Taiwan on the basis of their Mainland academic credentials. Closer interaction between universities on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait must not transform the Mainland into a giant black hole. It must lead to win/win cross-Strait exchanges.

Since the two sides can not solve problems through war, they must solve problems through peace. Because the two sides must have peace, therefore they must engage in exchanges. The two sides must engage in exchanges, but Taipei must not be swallowed up by Beijing. Taipei must retain the right to determine the nature of cross-Strait exchanges. This applies to cross-Strait economic and trade exchanges. It also applies to cross-Strait academic exchanges. When it comes to economic and trade exchanges, Taipei may not have the advantage. But when it comes to academic exchanges, Taiwan's freedom and democracy give it valuable competitive advantages. In other words, If we want universities on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to have a salutary effect on the humanities, we must look to Taiwan. This is something the ruling and opposition parties on Taiwan should work hard for.

If we want to integrate universities on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, the public on Taiwan and high school students and university students on Taiwan must be prepared. The public on Taiwan must appreciate the value of democracy and the rule of law. Democracy and the rule of law are the most precious belongings students from Taiwan will take with them to the Mainland. It will also be their most valuable medium of intellectual exchange on Mainland campuses. But if the parents of this generation of students from Taiwan distort the meaning of democracy, debase the rule of law, and turn their backs on the world, students from Taiwan will lose their psychological advantage. After all, cross-Strait university interaction is not limited to academic exchanges. Such interactions will also be the cradle of a cross-Strait political vision. Students from Taiwan are the guardians of a Chinese model of democracy. This is not something that needs to be trumpeted or overemphasized. That is precisely why it is so valuable in cross-Strait relations.

Future generations of high school and college students on Taiwan must become more involved in cross-Strait university exchanges. Global Vision magazine commissioned a survey of youth on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. It found that 65.3% of young people on Taiwan believe their biggest competitor is young people on the Mainland. This shows that young people on Taiwan have seen the warning signs. But the direct and indirect challenges the coming generation of young people on Taiwan face are not merely challenges in the job market. They also face powerful challenges to the values they have internalized on Taiwan. Are young people on Taiwan ready to face the future?

Twenty-five years from now, could a graduate of National Taiwan University who is a resident of Fujian, become the Governor of Fujian Province? Thirty years from now, could a graduate of Beijing University become a candidate for President of the Republic of China? These possibilities may be too much for our minds to take in. But they are not outside the realm of possibility.

The developments the two sides are pursuing may not be quite so dramatic. Rather, the question is whether the two sides can work together to create cross-Strait peace, democracy, prosperity, and set a humanist example for the world? Can universities on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait engage in the rational and idealistic pursuit of truth and knowledge, both independently and together?

Can CHAIWAN become a miracle? Can it set an example for the world? Can rational and idealistic universities on both sides of the Taiwan Strait give birth to such a phenomenon? We can of course hope. But our hopes may remain nothing more than hopes. After all, the future of the two sides will be determined by future generations of university students on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

CHAIWAN：一個寄望於兩岸大學校園的奇蹟
【聯合報╱社論】
2009.07.20 04:01 am

北京宣布將開放台灣學生憑學測成績申請就讀大陸大學；這將是大陸對台灣發生磁吸效應的新黑洞，或者是兩岸雙贏交流的新平台？

兩岸問題不可能在此刻當下圓滿解決，而必須寄望於未來，寄望於十年後，二、三十年後，或更久遠的將來，也就是將寄望於今後數代的兩岸青年。若從此一角度看北京採認學測成績為入學準據，及其勢將衍生的連鎖效應，不能不令人對今後兩岸的大學校園在改善兩岸關係上寄以深切期待。

歷經過去六十年的激盪衝擊，好不容易才從不共戴天的「反攻大陸」、「解放台灣」走了出來，兩岸一直到了最近這兩年才約略出現了「和平／和解」的青稚共識，這也許已是這一代兩岸當局能給後世兩岸子孫的最佳禮物了，但也恐只是僅此而已；未來將如何在這個「和平／和解」的氛圍中，共同創發出一個兩岸雙贏的願景與規制，則尚有待時日，而此一重大責任將會落在今後數代兩岸青年的肩頭。

因此，我們對北京採用台灣學測成績入學，及台大、北大研議合辦「雙聯學位」，及我方擬有條件承認大陸學歷與進一步開放陸生來台，皆持審慎支持的立場。我們的思考是：對台灣而言，未來交流互動日益密切的兩岸大學校園，不要淪為大陸磁吸效應的新黑洞，而應當使之成為兩岸雙贏交流的新平台。

兩岸不可用戰爭解決問題，所以要和平；兩岸要和平，所以要交流；兩岸要交流，但不要被大陸吞掉，而要維護台灣在處理兩岸終極關係的發言地位。此一原則適用於兩岸經貿交流，同樣也當然適用於未來兩岸大學校園的交流。何況，談到經貿交流，台灣未必有當然的優勢；但若論大學校園的交流，以台灣之自由民主，卻存有相當珍貴的相對優勢。也就是說，倘若寄望兩岸大學校園成為一個台灣能夠相對發生較佳影響的人文場域，這應當是合理的期待，亦是台灣朝野可以用心經營的一個新平台。

然而，若將兩岸大學校園視為一個平台，台灣社會與台灣未來的高中生及大學生皆宜有所準備，以資因應。就台灣社會言，應當更加珍惜台灣在民主法治上的成就，台灣的民主與法治將是台灣負笈大陸的「留學生」最珍貴的行李，也是他們在大陸校園中不言自喻的交流資產。然而，倘若這一代父母輩的台灣人，所表現的卻是扭曲的民主、被汙染的法治，及偏差的國際觀；恐將使台灣學生失去原本應有的心理優勢。畢竟，在兩岸大學校園的互動中，除了在學術課程的交流外，那也是未來兩岸願景的搖籃；台灣學生是「華人民主典範」的傳承者與守護者，不必渲染，不著斧鑿，他們在這個兩岸平台上的最大價值，正在於此。

今後數代的台灣高中生及大學生，應當更認真地參與兩岸交流互動的大學校園。《遠見雜誌》主持的一項兩岸年輕人調查顯示，六五‧三％的台灣年輕人認為，他們最大的競爭對手是大陸的年輕人。可見，台灣的年輕人其實已在環境中嗅得了此種警訊；但是未來數代台灣年輕人所面對的，尚不僅是個人在職場上必須直接或間接迎對大陸人的競爭挑戰，他們也將實際參與台灣價值與大陸磁吸的巨型拔河比賽。面對未來，台灣的年輕人準備好了嗎？

二十五年後，有無可能出現一個台大畢業的福建省民選省長？三十年後，有無可能出現一個北大畢業的直選中華民國總統？這些想像也許太過迂闊，卻未必不符邏輯。

但是，兩岸所追求的卻未必是此類戲劇性的發展；而是有無可能在以理智及理想為主流的兩岸大學校園裡，及在追求真理與知識的兩岸大學知識分子當中，能夠透過交流互動的知性平台，分別為兩岸，並共同為兩岸開創出一個和平、民主、繁榮與引領世界理想的人類文明典範？

CHAIWAN奇蹟，成為一個世界文明的新典範，有無可能在有理智與有理想的兩岸大學校園中孕育誕生？我們不妨心存此想，但其實也只能作此寄託而已。畢竟，兩岸的未來，必然是十之八九決定於今後兩岸數代大學生的手中！