After weeks of relatively tame university exchanges, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday answered cross-strait challenges posed by Chinese students in a lively debate.

Members of a 300-student audience at Shih Hsin University, about two-fifths of them from China on a study-abroad program, asked her respectful but skeptical questions about her party’s opposition to a broader opening to Chinese students.

“I support letting students learn in different places and having access to different experiences and cultures ... but there are practical considerations,” Tsai said when explaining why she favored limited student exchanges with China.