Miaoli County, northern Taiwan, July 31 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian presided over a ceremony Thursday marking the transition of the National Lien-Ho Institute of Technology to the status of a university - the first university to open in Miaoli County, where most residents speak Hakka.
The president said that the increasing number of universities in rural areas around the island is a tangible and direct response by the government to the will of the public. It also shows the concern his administration has for the welfare of those living in underprivileged areas, he said.
The president spoke at the site of expansion work at the institute, which is part of the changes that will result in the facility being designated as a university on Friday. The school will henceforth be known as the National United University.
Also being established Friday will be National Ilan University and National Taitung University -- upgraded from the National Ilan Institute of Technology and National Taitung Teachers College, respectively -- to serve as the first universities in the eastern counties of Ilan and Taitung, Chen said.
The president said that the establishment of the three national universities fulfills a need in the areas, which did not have a single university, in spite of the fact that the number of colleges and universities nationwide has expanded to 135 in 2001 from 67 in 1996.