The central government yesterday asked Taiwan's intelligence agencies to stop trying to recruit exchange students from the mainland.

The State Council Taiwan Affairs Office has seen reports about the issue and is "highly concerned," its spokesperson Fan Liqing told a press conference.

According to an article published on Monday by Beijing-based Global Times, intelligence agents were sent to contact mainland students in Taiwan in an attempt to gain information from them and to encourage them to spy on the mainland.

The report claimed Chinese authorities had uncovered more than 40 such cases.

Cross-strait relations have been turbulent in the past, but people on both sides have always wanted peace and development, Fan said.

"We are willing to make more effort and work harder to promote cross-Strait relations," she said.

Enabling mainland students to study in Taiwan is an important achievement of the cross-Strait talks, but that has been jeopardized by Taiwan's intelligence agencies, Fan said on Monday.

Their actions "have seriously harmed the safety and health of young students, and gravely disturbed the cooperative educational exchanges between the two sides," she said.

When asked if Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, will meet senior Taiwan politician Vincent Siew during next month's APEC meeting, Fan said the two sides are still discussing the matter.

Taiwan yesterday announced a rule banning its senior officials from studying on China's mainland for "national security" reasons.

The administrative order from the island's interior affairs department is effective from today, reported AFP.

"The new measures have been adopted due to national security considerations," an official from Taiwan's immigration agency said.

"We're worried that confidential information available to high-level government officials might be leaked as they write their theses and research papers," he said on condition of anonymity.

Media reports said the ruling could force dozens of people to suspend academic programs on the mainland.

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)