In Lending Assistance to Mainland Students Overseas, Publicly Supported Students Will Receive Top Priority; Those Who Give Up Their Chinese Communist Passports Can Get ROC Passports

The Mainland Affairs Council of the Executive Yuan decided on June 15that the highest priority target for ROC assistance to complete their education, to be given to mainland Chinese overseas students or scholars who renounce their Chinese Communist passports out of anti-communismor whose lives are made difficult because of their participation in anti-communist activities, will go to publicly funded students. Second priority will go to those sent abroad by mainland scholarly institutions. Third priority will go to self-funded students.

The various methods adopted for mainland and overseas democratic activists in the proposal "Measures to Assist the Mainland Democratic Movement," passed by the Council, will be divided up for the convenience of future development of this work.

(1) On the "Important Points for the Assistance of Mainland Chinese Overseas Scholars' and Students' Anti-Communist Activities in the CurrentStage": Thecon crete implementation methods for this plan, drawn up bythe Ministry of Education, are to be delegated to the Grand Alliance for the Reunification of China Under the Three Principles of the People for expansion and practical implementation.

Publicly funded students receive top priority because their funds will inevitably be cut if they participate in democratic activism; self-funded students have the lowest priority because their economic resources are not greatly affected. Mainland overseas students applying for assistance must provide concrete proof that they have actively participated in anti-communist activities.

(2) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for the "Stipulations for Applications for ROC Passports by Mainland Students and Scholars Overseas." The implementation method has been proposed by the MOFA,and will be implemented immediately after it is passed by the Executive Yuan. However, the passports given will only be for personal identification. As for whether or not these people may come to visit, live in, orundertake activities in Taiwan, this must be handled according to the stipulations of the relevant units.

It is understood that the MOFA has already decided that the passportsgiven out to those qualified will be valid for three or six years variously. Shaw Yu-ming, director-general of the Government Information Office and spokesman for the Mainland Affairs Council, points out that rumors that ROC passports will only be given to those students or scholarswho have long-term or permanent right of residence in a foreign countryare inaccurate.

Phone Links Between the Two Sides of the Taiwan Straits Are Now Open

The Directorate-General of Telecommunications has stated: Telephone links between people on Taiwan and the mainland will respect the "Three No's Policy," and must use indirect connection. Calls must be connected through Cable and Wireless (Hong Kong), or may be dialed by the user through a third country. Rates are the same as those for Korea, and there are reduced rates time periods.

Currently for those areas in the mainland without international direct dial service (ISD), users can first call the C & W special number, which will relay the call to the mainland. Users should first call 002-8525, and then dial the special number. This method is also used for telegrams or TELEX.

The DGT says, if the user dials through a third country (Hong Kong, Japan, the U.S., and so on) for automatic connection to the mainland, he or she must first dial 002-86, followed by the area code and number of the other party. Again, the method is the same for telegrams and TELEX.

The International Telecommunications Administration of the Ministry of Communications has sent a telegram via Hong Kong to the mainland communications agencies to notify them that the ROC has begun this service.