Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Jennifer Wang’s (王如玄) failure to list a doctoral degree that she obtained from a Chinese university on her campaign Web site has sparked online speculation about the reason for the omission.
On the joint campaign Web site with KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) launched on Monday, the former Council of Labor Affairs minister lists all of her educational credentials except for a doctorate in law from Renmin University of China (RUC) in Beijing.
Wang has previously been criticized by netizens for “studying law in a country where the rule of law is absent,” and the omission has renewed online discussion, with some netizens saying it is unusual for a candidate of the pro-China KMT to leave out such experience.
Photo: CNA
She also does not mention the time she served as a member of the Executive Yuan’s Women’s Rights Committee from 1998 to 2003, which coincided in part with former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) term in office.
Asked to explain the exclusion of her doctorate, Wang yesterday said she studied law at the RUC not to obtain a degree, but to collect information on certain Chinese laws.
“Beijing’s marriage and inheritance laws are closely related to Taiwanese lives, since numerous Taiwanese businessmen have purchased properties or taken a mistress in China. I have also been approached by many Taiwanese wives who needed legal advice in these areas,” Wang said on the sidelines of an event promoting an upcoming Christmas charity bazaar in New Taipei City.
As it is not an easy task to gather information on Chinese law, Wang said she figured that applying at a university would be the quickest way to do so.
Wang said she did not apply for the attestation of her doctorate after returning to Taiwan because the degree did not matter much to her profession as a lawyer.
“Also, as a long-term participant in social movements, I have taken up far too many roles. That was why I had to select only some of them to put on the site, or the list might get too long,” Wang said.
Chu’s campaign spokesman, Lee Cheng-hao (李正皓), said the RUC is part of China’s Projects 211 and 985 — education initiatives aimed at creating world-class schools — and is one of the 41 top Chinese universities whose educational credentials were first recognized by the Taiwanese government in 2011.
“However, as Wang obtained her doctorate in 2004 and the government’s new policy is not retroactive, she did not file the degree with the Central Election Commission and therefore did not put it on the campaign site,” Lee said.
In related news, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) yesterday alleged that Wang and her husband, Judicial Yuan Department of Government Ethics Director Huang Tung-hsun (黃東焄), only moved out of a Ministry of Justice dormitory on Monday because the Executive Yuan’s regulations would have compelled them to leave today.
“Huang was transferred on Sept. 2 from the ministry to his current post, which is listed under the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office. According to regulations, the couple can only stay for another three months [at the dorm after the transfer],” Tuan said.
That means Wang moved out of the dorm not to deliver on her pledge to do so as soon as possible, but because she was compelled to, Tuan said.
Wang said she and her husband had been living in the dorm legally, and that they decided to leave the property because she wanted to subject herself to the highest moral standards.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS