National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday urged the Ministry of Education to approve the appointment of NTU president-elect Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔), after a provisional school affairs meeting passed a motion supporting Kuan.
Kuan was on Jan. 5 elected NTU president and was supposed to take office on Feb. 1.
However, the ministry put off approval of his appointment amid allegations of plagiarism and a conflict of interest, as well as a flawed selection process.
Photo: CNA
The controversy led to the resignation of former minister of education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠).
After Minister of Education Wu Maw-kuen (吳茂昆) took office, the ministry on April 27 decided not to approve Kuan’s election on grounds that the election process was flawed, and asked NTU to hold a new election.
NTU yesterday convened a provisional school affairs committee meeting to address the issue and other matters related to the selection of its president, during which a number of resolutions were proposed by committee members.
A resolution proposed by NTU agricultural economics professor Jerome Geaun (官俊榮) and NTU psychology professor Hsu Yung-fong (徐永豐) urged the ministry to give Kuan an appointment contract and advised the school to take legal action if the ministry refuses.
It also requires the school to allow interim president Kuo Tei-wei (郭大維) to exercise full presidential powers before a new president is appointed.
The resolution was passed 77-30, with three invalid votes.
The ministry did not respect the university’s autonomy and the independence of the election committee, and its order that the school hold a new election has no legal basis, Geaun said.
Two motions launched by NTU economics professor Jang Show-ling (鄭秀玲) and NTU electrical engineering professor Wu Ruey-beei (吳瑞北) sought to start a new election process, but both were voted down.
Kuan’s part-time employment at a telecom was obviously illegal, as his application to the school came two months later, Jang said, adding that Kuan should shoulder the legal expenses should the school file a lawsuit.
Also vetoed was a motion proposed by NTU Student Association president Lin Yen-ting (林彥廷), who called for adjusting the members in the election committee and internal meetings, and reviewing the legal and administrative disputes throughout the election process.
Other students expressed anger over being barred from the internal meeting.
The meeting’s venue was changed at the last minute to a smaller meeting room, even though its original venue, a large conference room, was not occupied, as the school administration had claimed, students said.
Students waiting outside the meeting room were blocked by staff who said there was no more room, said Kao Shao-fang (高紹芳), NTU student and NTU Presidential Election Reform Front spokesperson.
The ministry said it would determine its next step after receiving the university’s official decision in writing.
Additional reporting by CNA
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS