National Taiwan University (NTU) president-elect Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) has been accused of plagiarizing a student's paper in a conference paper he coauthored with National Chi Nan University professor Chen Chien-liang (陳建良), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
The paper, entitled “An Empirical Study of the Effect of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement on Exports” was presented at a conference held by the Academia Sinica Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences and the NTU Department of Economics on May 6 last year and published in its conference documents.
“The paper contains many sentences and charts that are almost identical to those in a thesis titled ‘The Impact of ECFA Early Harvest on Taiwan’s Export to China: Analysis by Difference-In-Differences Model,’ written by Chen’s student in July 2016,” he said, adding that Chen was the student’s thesis adviser.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
While the student cited the working paper of “An Empirical Study of the Effect of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement on Exports” several times in her thesis, Chang Liao noted 15 uncited sentences and charts with a high degree of similarity to those in the published paper.
The paper does not cite the student’s thesis, but does have a short note thanking the student for providing a chart and a list.
As an example, a sentence in the student’s thesis reads: “The government should use the empirical evidence as the basis for communicating with different sectors and analyze the data to help with future planning of industry policies,” which is almost identical to the sentence in the published paper: “The government should use the empirical evidence as the basis for communicating with different sectors and use the data as the basis for planning future trade and industry policies,” Chang Liao said.
The two papers use the same methodology, theme and conclusion, he added.
“It appears that Kuan and Chen might have written their paper based on the master’s student’s thesis,” he said. “If the student had plagiarized their paper, why would Chen allow her to graduate?”
Kuan owes the public an explanation and NTU, Academia Sinica and the Ministry of Education should investigate the matter, he said.
According to a Chinese-language United Daily News report, Chen said that the student cited his working paper in her thesis and that Chang got it “the wrong way round.”
Chen is in Myanmar on a business trip and is to return to Taiwan on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, several academics and politicians expressed concerns over a possible conflict of interest in the NTU president election after several media outlets reported that Kuan was an independent director of Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) and that company vice chairman Richard Tsai (蔡明興) was a member of the university’s presidential election committee.
NTU said the election complied with the university’s regulations, but the ministry, which is in the process of reviewing Kuan’s appointment, has requested NTU clarify issues regarding the alleged conflict of interest and plagiarism.
As there are very few laws and regulations governing universities, it is difficult to correct their mistakes, DPP Legislator Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) said, adding that the ministry should address the issue.
To prevent similar controversies, the government must have regulations and universities must be disciplined and have better election regulations, she added.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
RSS