Overseas talent program needs to be scrutinized: KMTBy Lin Hsin-han / Staff reporterThe Ministry of Education and the Overseas Community Affairs Council should conduct a comprehensive review of the government’s New Southbound Talent Policy to improve safeguards of the rights of overseas and international students in Taiwan, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. The Democratic Progressive Party government implemented the policy in 2016, with a goal to attract to Taiwan 200,000 applicants of outstanding talent from Southeast Asia, the KMT said. From left, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Hsu Yu-chen, Lin Pei-hsiang, Ko Chih-en and Huang Chien-pin hold placards at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Recruitment campaigns promote the promise of “studying in Taiwan,” but for many, the reality is closer to “working in Taiwan,” he added. “Policymakers must return to the core mission of education: International students are meant to study, not to plug labor shortages in the service sector,” it said.

Source: Taipei Times March 17, 2026 17:11 UTC