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.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
CLASSIFIED BRIEFING: The ministry said the special budget focuses on building a comprehensive defense system and strengthening the domestic defense industry The Ministry of National Defense yesterday released information on seven categories of weapons systems to be procured under a stalled NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.57 billion) special defense budget, including precision artillery, long-range missiles, air defense anti-tank missiles and more than 200,000 uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs). The Executive Yuan approved a draft version of the budget on Nov. 27 last year and submitted it to the legislature for review. The legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee yesterday invited Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to deliver a classified briefing and answer questions at a closed-door session. Koo said he hoped to provide lawmakers
RSS