After days of fierce media scrutiny, the Ministry of Education yesterday finally decided to strip Peng Tso-kwei (彭作奎), president of National Chung Hsing University, of his post on the grounds that -- having been found to have committed plagiarism -- he is no longer suitable for the post.
The announcement ended a public controversy surrounding the selection of the school's president that has persisted since last summer.
"Being a president of a university, one should be equipped with both administrative competence and supreme moral standards. Since Peng's academic publications have been proven to be plagiarized, he is unfit to be the head of a university," said Lu Mu-lin (呂木琳), vice minister of education.
"The ministry has deprived Peng of his position in accordance with article three of the Teaching Personnel Hiring Act (教育人員任用條例), which states that teachers must remain of good character."
The dispute has been a focus of media attention since last September when the head of the school's professors' association Wu Ming-ming (吳明敏), reported the accusation against Peng's academic integrity to the ministry after Peng was chosen to be one of the presidential hopefuls of the university.
In spite of strong protests by the school's professors, the education ministry selected Peng as president. Peng assumed the post on Oct. 1.
After months of investigation, the National Science Council ruled earlier this month that the charge of plagiarism against Peng was valid, and the Committee for Academic Evaluation (
On hearing the news, Wu said he was pleased with the outcome, but he said the Ministry of Education should still be blamed for dragging its feet over the case and for Minister of Education Ovid Tzeng's (曾志朗) "evasive attitude" towards the dispute.
Reports said Peng had told Tzeng of his intention of resigning shortly before the ministry announced its decision.
At a press conference held at the university -- though Peng apologized for the tumult caused by the incident both at the university and in society at large -- he considered the ruling by the National Science Council to be unfair.
"I would like to apologize for the instability stemming from this event and I am here to announce my decision to resign from my post because I feel my pride has been trampled on. I think a scholar's integrity, just like the chastity of an empress, allows no room for questioning," said Peng, referring to what he described the National Science Council's "unjust verdict."
"There is a difference between plagiarizing and lacking proper citations. What I did not do appropriately was to include the original references in the book, but that is not plagiarism."
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
‘BOOMING’: ’ The number of partners we have here is incredible. You can see from their stock prices. They’re doing so well, they’re so happy,’ Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp’s spending in Taiwan has ballooned to about US$150 billion a year, 10 times the US$10 billion to US$15 billion the company spent five years ago, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, suggesting Taiwan’s strategic importance in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain. “Taiwan is the epicenter of the AI revolution. This is where the chips come, packaging comes. This is where the systems are made. This is where AI supercomputers were created,” Huang said at a meeting for the company’s employees in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei, the planned site of Nvidia’s Taipei headquarters. “Taiwan
RSS