Ma Govt Requires Public Servants to Pass Exam on PRC Constitution

The Ministry of Examination (考選部, MOE) of Ma Ying-jeou's government issues a rule change requiring the Constitution of People Republic Of China (PRC) be included in the Senior Examination for the Civil Service (公務人員高等考試), a qualification exam for Taiwanese to become a public servant. (高考二級將加考中國憲法 考生傻眼)

Why on earth do Taiwanese need to study PRC constitution, AND PASS the exam, in order to work in Taiwan's government organizations ?

The excuse from MOE:

Following the increasing interactions between Taiwan and China after the Chiang-Chen Meeting, some government organizations respond that they don't have enough people knowing about rules in China and China matters, causing troubles in handling the interactions. Therefore, MOE modified the exam subjects to recruit people with this expertise.

Taiwan have been doing business with many countries in the world for decades. Never have we learned that public servants are required to pass exams on Japan Constitution, British Constitution, USA Constitution, Canada Constitution ... etc.

Those government organizations listed by MOE to require extensive knowledge of PRC Constitution are:

- The Council of Agriculture (農委會)
- The Bureau of Immigration (境管局)
- The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC, 交通部)
- The National Police Administration (NPA, 內政部警政署)
- The Immigration Office (移民署)
- The Department of Health (DOH, 衛生署)
- etc etc (yes, more)

Why do public servants in those govt organizations need to have extensive knowledge about PRC's constitution ? To make sure that they don't violate PRC's law ?

Isn't it the "ROC Consitution" that Ma Ying-jeou strongly upholds ? Now it seems that upholding Taiwan's constitution isn't quite enough for Ma. It's like asking USA's immigration officers to pass an exam on Mexico Constitution.

Or maybe it's a trick of Ma Ying-jeou to exclude Taiwanese from the government positions ?

The application of this new rule will force Taiwanese to study China Constitution if they want to get a government job. To me it shows another blatant move of Ma Ying-jeou to achieve the unification from inside of Taiwan by forcing Taiwanese into PRC's servants.

Update-09.03.11:

Taipei Times reports that the MOE put a halt on the proposal after the Liberty Times' report (cited above):

“As the public was divided over the plan following the release of the draft proposal, the ministry decided to accept the advice not to include the PRC Constitution in national civil service exams,” the ministry said in its second press statement.

Earlier yesterday afternoon, the ministry issued a press release saying the plan to add the PRC Constitution had yet to be finalized and that the ministry would adopt a cautious attitude in asking for input from various circles before making a final decision.

But the other newly added subjects will remain:

• Laws and regulations pertaining to cross-strait relations
• International factors in cross-strait relations
• China’s Taiwan policy and cross-strait negotiations

I still have doubt as how critical the knowledge of the above subjects are for Taiwan government agencies to "follow Taiwan's law." But I don't have enough details to judge that.