An investigation team set up by the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee that is scheduled to visit Academia Sinica tomorrow is an “intimidation measure,” said an associate research professor at the institution’s Institutum Iurisprudentiae.
Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) — a leading figure in the Sunflower movement — yesterday posted on Facebook two scanned copies of legislative documents that said the committee is scheduled to visit Academia Sinica tomorrow to inspect “the condition of its staffing levels and enhancements in performance after the institution’s restructuring.”
Huang said he suspects his attendance record is the target of the committee’s investigation team, “which, if true, would be a pretty cheap way to evaluate an Academia Sinica researcher.”
Photo: Taipei Times
“My academic performance is duly assessed by the professional community. I don’t think the committee needs to go to this trouble for a performance review. I hope they are not here to exert inappropriate pressure on the research institution,” he added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟), who convenes the committee, said that the investigation is into the institution’s overall performance, rather than that of any individual.
“Why is Huang worried about the inspection? Does he have something to hide?” Lu asked.
“This is a public matter. Do not confuse it with private issues. [Huang] is also a civil servant, who still needs to perform his duties on time and undergo assessments of his work,” Lu said.
“Any violations against the Civil Servant Services Act (公務員服務法) would be dealt with,” he added.
Huang is not the only Academia Sinica researcher who supported the student-led Sunflower movement against the government’s handling of the cross-strait service trade pact, or criticized the government over the issue.
Institute of Sociology research fellow Chiu Hei-yuan (瞿海源) led about 200 Academia Sinica researchers and staff in a protest against President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) when he attended a conference at the institution last month on sovereignty disputes concerning the Tokyo-controlled Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), which Taiwan and China also claim.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
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
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
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
RSS