Taipei, Oct. 24 (CNA) Chinese students studying in Taiwan will be covered in the National Health Insurance system in line with overseas Chinese and foreign students, according to an agreement reached at a policy coordination meeting held Monday. In the meeting presided over by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the participants reached an agreement that the legislative caucus of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party will move to revise the National Health Insurance Act along the following principles. First, based on humanitarian consideration and human rights values, the treatment of Chinese students should be in line with that of foreign and overseas Chinese students by including them into the National Health Insurance system. Second, due to limited government resources, and the fairness of social insurance, foreign, overseas Chinese and Chinese students should pay the full amount of health insurance premiums themselves. But the rights of those overseas Chinese and foreign students who have come to Taiwan before the law is amended will not be affected. Third, government agencies should allocate their own budgets if they, based on their policy considerations, want to assist poor students or students from specific countries. Asked if the planned revision of the law was a bid to extend an olive branch to the other side of the Taiwan Strait, Alex Huang (黃重諺), spokesman of the Presidential Office, only said the move was "out of humanitarian considerations." Meanwhile, an official of the Ministry of Health and Welfare said it is feasible to have Chinese students covered under the insurance program, noting that as these Chinese students are young, they are not expected to be a burden on the program. Shang Tung-Fu (商東福), the head of the Department of Social Insurance under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said that according to the tallies in 2015, the number of foreign and overseas Chinese students totaled 30,946 and they paid a total national health insurance premium of NT$373 million (US$11.78 million), with the national health expenditure on them estimated at around NT$120 million. Shang said that there were about 7,813 Chinese students in Taiwan in 2015. Overseas Chinese and foreign students now pay NT$749 per month per person and the government offers additional subsidies for them. If they are to pay the full premium, it will be NT$1,249 per month. Chinese students in Taiwan welcomed the proposed law revision, saying that once it goes into effect, they will feel more equal to others and it will be more convenient for them to seek medical treatment. Sha Liying (沙麗瀠), a Chinese student currently studying at Taipei Medical University, said that Chinese students currently get insurance from insurance companies through school and pay about NT$3,000 per semester. They must take the receipts from medical institutions via schools to apply for insurance reimbursement later. If they are covered by the national health insurance program, it will be easier for them to seek medical care, Sha said. "But If we have to pay more than NT$1,000 per month, the burden will be greater than if we are covered by commercial insurance." Sha said. (By Sophia Yeh, Chen Wei-ing , Hsu Chi-wei and Lilian Wu)

Taipei, Oct. 10 (CNA) Several scholars in Taiwan and China said Monday that there was nothing new enough in President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) National Day address to convince Beijing to restart dialogue. "There was not enough for Beijing to feel significant goodwill and restart talks, but it should not make Beijing feel provoked," said Chang Wu-yueh (張五岳), director of Tamkang University's Graduate Institute of China Studies in New Taipei. He said the president's call for "the authorities of mainland China to face up to the reality that the Republic of China (ROC) exists" is the common ground accepted across party lines in Taiwan and should be interpreted positively at home. But such a stance based on the ROC Constitution will only lead to Beijing raising more questions on the content of the Constitution and sovereignty of the ROC, because of the lack of trust and communication channels between Taiwan and China, Chang said. Edward Chen (陳一新), a professor at Tamkang University's Department of Diplomacy and International Relations, said Tsai's call to China hinted at the hope for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), because Xi's meeting with her predecessor, Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), in Singapore in November 2015 brought the ROC to the world stage. "There is nothing particularly new," said Liao Da-chi (廖達琪), a professor at the Institute of Political Science at National Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan. Although Tsai said "we will not bow to pressure, and we will of course not revert to the old path of confrontation," she did not come up with any specific steps she plans to take, nor what she wants, Liao said. Tung Li-wen (董立文), a professor at Central Police University's Department of Public Security, meanwhile, said Tsai further extended the olive branch in her National Day address, compared to her May 20 inauguration speech. The president understands it is difficult for Beijing to recognize the ROC's existence, but she did not rule out communication and still hopes the two sides can sit down and talk, according to Tung. For Beijing to recognize the ROC's existence, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait need to enter discussion under the precondition of the "1992 consensus," said Wu Yongping (巫永平), a professor at the Institute of Taiwan Studies of Tsinghua University in Beijing. While sharing the view that there was nothing new in Tsai's address, Wu pointed out contradictions in her position of maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Wu said that the status quo Tsai referred to is likely to be the situation prior to May 20, rather than afterward, since Taiwan and China have seen ties deteriorate in the past four months. The warmer ties across the Taiwan Strait, Wu said, were achieved on the basis of the 1992 consensus, under which both sides recognize there is only one China, with each side free to interpret what that means. Without the 1992 consensus, Tsai is unlikely to be able to maintain the pre-May 20 status quo, Wu said. Wu's colleague, associate professor Zheng Zhenqing (鄭振清), meanwhile, said that "Tsai Ing-wen did not meet the mainland's expectations." Zheng said Tsai still avoided mentioning the 1992 consensus in her address, but attached more importance to cross-strait relations than she did in her May 20 speech. Liu Guoshen (劉國深), head of Xiamen University's Taiwan Research Institute, said Tsai did not seek to provoke China and did express the intention to talk with Beijing, but needs to clarify how she positions the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. From past experience, Liu said, it is difficult for Beijing to believe that Tsai will recognize that both sides are one country. Speaking to a CNA correspondent in Hong Kong, commentator Johnny Lau (劉銳紹) said that Beijing will not be satisfied by the address, because her stance remains similar to that of the past. He said Beijing is taking the initiative at the moment, while Tsai is responding to the changing situation by making no changes. Lau expects Beijing to add pressure on Tsai, while observing her reactions, which will lead to continued instability across the Taiwan Strait in the next 12 months. (By Chen Wei-ting, Chen Chia-lun, Lawrence Chiu, Stanley Cheung and Kay Liu)

Taipei, Oct. 25 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday that it made numerous efforts to secure the release of a Taiwanese sailor after his ship was hijacked by Somalia pirates in March 2012. Antonio Chen (陳俊賢), director-general of the ministry's Department of West Asian and African Affairs, said the government never turned its back on Shen Jui-chang (�000�, chief engineer on the Omani-flagged fishing vessel Naham 3 when it was seized by Somali pirates. Amid public complaints that the government did not do enough to secure Shen's release, Chen said "the primary concern was the safety of the crew members and their release." He noted that faced with a hostage situation, no nation would have agreed to pay the ransom demanded by the pirates, as to do so would have encouraged them to demand an exorbitant amount. Moreover, any payment on the part of the government would only have resulted in the pirates seizing more vessels for profit, Chen said. Commenting on Shen's journey to Guangzhou in China on Tuesday following his release, Chen said that the key issue was "to provide protection and humanitarian assistance." Shen, accompanied by officials from China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, arrived in Guangzhou on Tuesday morning where he was reunited with his wife and daughter. They are scheduled to return to Taiwan on Wednesday. "There is no need for politicizing on the point of transit," Chen said, adding that "both sides (of the Taiwan Strait) have made efforts in this case." He noted that since the ship was hijacked in 2012, with a crew of 29 - including Shen and a Taiwanese captain who was killed during the hijacking, the ministry had solicited assistance from the Kuala Lumpur-based Piracy Reporting Centre and the European Union. As the ship was Omani-flagged, the ministry also asked the Omani government to assist with the case, but with little result. In June 2015, Shen was reportedly to be released and the ministry made preparations to provide assistance, but the release fell through probably because negotiations on the ransom broke down, Chen said. The Naham 3 was hijacked in March 2012, roughly 65 nautical miles south of the Seychelles. The captain was killed during the hijacking and two of the original crew -- one Chinese and one Indonesian -- later fell ill and died. The remaining 26 crew members spent much of their captivity on land in Somalia. (By Tang Pei-chun and Lilian Wu)