Taiwan was one of the first of many countries this year to hold its election, with former president Tsai Ing-Wen’s Democratic People’s Party gaining victory.
Lai Ching-te is to succeed Tsai Ing-Wen’s, who was elected in 2020 and seen as an unpopular figure in China, in a region that has been at the centre of geopolitical tensions in recent years.
“Although the normalisation of relations with China led many US universities to create language programs on the mainland, the quality and diversity of these programs in Taiwan has remained consistently strong,” noted Brad Farnsworth, principal at Fox Hollow Advisory, speaking to The PIE.
One agent noted that the effect on the ground among students has not been as heavily felt as previous years.
“Compared to the 2020 election, we believe this year’s election hasn’t received as much attention,” Luna Lin, branch director at HelloStudy Taiwan, told The PIE.
“We have students inquiring every day, but there hasn’t been a significant increase post-election,” she commented.
Taiwan, which is recognised by some nations as an independent state and by others as a territory of China, has sought to tighten political relations with the US as China has tried to cement its authority in the region.
Taiwanese students made up the sixth largest nationality in the Open Doors Data released in late 2023, seeing a year-on-year increase of 6.6% with 21,834 on American shores.
Study in Taiwan, complete with government representatives including the country’s deputy minister for education at the time Mon-Chi Lo at NAFSA, have brought bigger delegations to conferences like the US event and EAIE than ever before – signalling more pushes by the education sector in the country to separate itself from its great power neighbour.
“In president Lai Ching-te’s upcoming term, we can expect to see renewed efforts to build on these historical strengths,” Farnsworth explained.
“The directors of Chinese language programs in the US will remain focused on locating their programs where the quality of teaching, facilities, technology, and the surrounding environment are the best. Geopolitical concerns will be secondary.
“This could be an unprecedented ‘soft power’ opportunity for the new administration.”
It was only in the last year that the previous government ruled it would attempt to attract 320,000 new international students by 2030, in an ambitious plan that would aim to retain 210,000 students to contribute to Taiwan’s workforce.
“This could be an unprecedented ‘soft power’ opportunity for the new administration”
Efforts to increase inbound mobility and talent may increase as the country grapples with enduring labour shortages
“[What we have noticed] is a few Taiwanese students have transferred abroad due to dissatisfaction with Taiwan’s job market, and some teens also because of the education environment,” Lin noted.
Despite the turbulence among Taiwanese students, “Taiwan’s economy and public safety are better than most countries”, Lin added.
The government’s plan to counteract the ongoing shortage got underway on January 1 – before the election was even held.
The Taiwanese Embassy to The EU’s urged that one-year residency extensions are available for international students after graduation, which can later be extended a further year.
While the previous government put in these measures just before the election, it is unclear whether these may be stretched further under the new progressive government.
The new leadership will also look to avoid any scandal around education, after last year also saw three ministries condemned by the government for allowing exploitation of international students.
