The list of this year’s new students on the TKU graduate programs at the College of International Studies is filled with “stars”. Yet the “stars” are not movie stars, but high ranking military officers with many stars!

They are all generals of various levels (or “stars”) from the Air Force, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and National Defense University. These “stars” asides, there are other high-ranking officers from different governmental agencies such as the National Science Council, Executive Yuan, and Wen Shan Precinct Police Station on these programs.

Their importance is embodied best in the new student, Mr. Su Zhi-yuen who is on one of the college’s doctoral programs. He is currently the consultant to the Deputy Director of the Defense Policy Division of the MND, and in fact earned his Master’s degree from TKU’s International Affairs and Strategic Studies in 1997. He went to Warsaw University, Poland to further his education in International Relations in 1999, yet needed to cut it short as he was called back by the government for important duty. Even though his study was interrupted, his expertise was not. His opinions on national defense issues have been continuously sought after by various newspapers and important publications throughout the years. Now he is back to the same institute to pursue his doctoral degree without any hesitation. He chose TKU for its global connections, digitalized facilities and a positive future vision. (~ Ying-hsueh Hu )