The case of OBI Pharma Inc, whose clinical trials for a new breast cancer drug returned no significant results, has developed into concerns over the company’s involvement in stock manipulation and insider trading. The case is under investigation and Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) has become involved in it, which necessitated the selection of a new president.
Academia Sinica is the nation’s leading academic institution. No political party or individual should use it for their own political or financial gain. Its downfall would be too big a price for the nation to pay.
Its responsibilities include humanities and scientific research; guiding and encouraging academic research and facilitating correspondence between academic institutions; and cultivating talent for academic research. To highlight its independent status, Academia Sinica is only accountable to the Presidential Office.
Academia Sinica’s president is responsible for presiding over convocations, of which the president is also the chair. Its council deliberates on various academic projects and is responsible for selecting presidents, which makes the council’s role a pivotal one.
Wong’s tenure is to end in October. Academia Sinica formed a selection committee in October last year to search for his successor and, in accordance with the rules, has to submit a list of at least four candidates to the council by tomorrow. According to convention, the council selects the final three candidates from the list within a month and submit the list to the president, who then makes the final selection.
Therefore, if the council acts swiftly, it could submit the final candidate list to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) before May 20, when he is to step down.
In 2006, when then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) appointed Wong as the president of Academia Sinica, there were two years left in Chen’s term in office. Hence, there was nothing controversial about the appointment.
However, Ma’s term is to end in about a month and it is debatable if he should take away the incoming president’s right to appoint important personnel by selecting a new president for Academia Sinica, who would remain in office for five years. Ma should handle this matter with great care.
Long before the OBI Pharma scandal broke, the council was concerned about the issue and was entertaining the possibility of putting off the convocation. This would require impartiality and objectivity on the part of council members. Then, the scandal broke, complicating matters and making the question of when the council should finalize the candidate list, as well as which president should make the final selection, even more difficult.
Many say that Ma has been unhappy with Academia Sinica for a long time: Numerous researchers held a protest when he attended a conference at the institution and Academia Sinica personnel participated in, and took leading roles in, the Sunflower movement.
Moreover, former Academia Sinica vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) became the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) vice presidential candidate. These link the OBI Pharma scandal with politics and it has become difficult to ascertain the nature of the allegations, as the public wonders if the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is seizing an opportunity to teach Academia Sinica a lesson, disrupt president-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) industrial development policies and reduce Tsai and Chen Chien-jen’s influence in industrial and academic circles. Perhaps if some evidence could be produced, the pan-blue camp could stage a comeback.
Tsai’s administration, which will take office on May 20, has to deal with the matter on two levels. Legally, the judiciary will handle investigation into the allegations. Politically, it is not entirely about moral standards, but has something to do with attitudes.
Wong is in the US and has not returned to Taiwan to address public concerns. His handling of the situation could harm Academia Sinica’s reputation. Whether the council puts off the selection of a new president or not, the public would have doubts about the political fallout from the incident.
That an academic institution would allow itself to get in such a situation, in which it would get criticized no matter what it does, is appalling, and is unfortunate for the nation. The majority of the public would not like to see that.
Therefore, both Ma and Tsai have to take responsibility and assure the public that they will remain impartial, exchange ideas and reach a consensus.
They have to decide when the selection of a new president for Academia Sinica should be made and who should be selected. If Academia Sinica’s reputation is of highest concern, then choosing the most suitable academic to lead it should be taken into consideration in an objective manner .
Whether Academia Sinica can avoid getting involved in political power struggles has implications about how Ma’s presidency ends and how Tsai’s presidency begins.
Translated by Ethan Zhan
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