《TAIPEI TIMES》 China aims to woo teachers with Xinjiang trips

By Chen Yu-fu and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer Beijing has been offer...…

A Uighur man stands in a front of the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang region in an undated photograph. Photo: AFP

By Chen Yu-fu and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Beijing has been offering subsidized trips to China’s Xinjiang region for Taiwanese teachers as part of efforts to influence teachers and, indirectly, students, a government official said yesterday.

With China subsidizing the trips, the teachers only need to pay a NT$4,000 registration fee for an eight-day, seven-night tour that includes accommodation and meals, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Participants risk having their personal information collected and their social networks monitored by Chinese authorities, the official said.

Chinese authorities are offering separate summer exchange programs targeting Taiwanese teachers and students, with the student program including study-related activities, they said.

A teacher tour scheduled for next month includes a visit to Urumqi, Shihezi University for exchanges with local students, Xinjiang Want Want Foods and a vocational and technical school in Beitun, they said.

Applicants must be Taiwanese teachers under the age of 40 with an interest in Chinese ethnic minority cultures, ecology, cultural education, regional development and exchanges among ethnic groups, the official said.