CHINA-'THOUSAND TALENTS PROGRAMME'
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An article in the Taipei Times on October 14 disclosed that 33 Taiwanese are among the 8,000 experts and academics so far recruited under the Recruitment Program of Global Experts -- known as the 'Thousand Talents Programme' till China’s National Natural Science Foundation banned usage of the term -- launched in 2008 to attract overseas talent to boost development in China’s key technologies, the high-tech industry and emerging technologies. The US believes that it is closely linked to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Most of those recruited are ethnic Chinese who receive generous wages and financial benefits. The Taipei Times article quoted the Deputy Dean of Taipei Medical University’s Center for General Education, Chang Kuo-cheng, as saying that as tensions rise between the US and China, anyone associated with Beijing — whether through business or academia — risks being blacklisted by Washington and losing cooperation opportunities in the US. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has said that full-time faculty members at public and private universities are required to obtain the government’s approval before they can join Beijing’s program. People who take up a post in China through the program would be dealt with in the same manner as those who assume a position in the Chinese Communist Party or the PLA, and could see their household registration in Taiwan revoked.
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