The Ministry of Education yesterday instructed National Taiwan University (NTU) to re-elect a president from the five finalists of the previous election — including NTU finance professor Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔), whose election was rejected by the ministry in May — on the condition that Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) vice president Richard Tsai (蔡明興) is barred from voting to avoid a conflict of interest.
The ministry is not asking the university to launch an election from square one, but only to “redo the step found to be flawed,” Minister of Education Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) told a news conference at the ministry in Taipei.
The committee on Jan. 5 elected Kuan to be NTU president and he was originally scheduled to take office on Feb. 1, but the ministry on May 4 refused to approve his election on the grounds that there was a conflict of interest in the election process, as Kuan allegedly did not tell the committee that he was an independent member of Taiwan Mobile’s board of directors, even though Tsai was on the election committee.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The university, a group of NTU students and Kuan have each filed an administrative appeal requesting that the ministry honor the election results and appoint him.
A report issued by the Judicial Yuan on Aug. 16 concluded that Kuan had contravened the Act Governing the Appointment of Educators (教育人員任用條例) in his capacity at Taiwan Mobile, and that he and Tsai had each failed to disclose the conflict of interest prior to the election.
When the ministry requested a re-election in May, it did not specify how it should be conducted and the summer break has made it difficult for the election committee to meet to resolve the controversy, Yeh said.
“Now that school has begun, things should be different. The committee should convene a meeting to address the concerns raised by the ministry and the Control Yuan, and officially respond to them,” he said.
The committee must first determine whether to remove Tsai or have him refrain from voting, and then relaunch the final round of the election with the same five candidates, he said.
The candidates were Kuan, Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences director Chou Mei-yin (周美吟), Administrative Affairs vice president and physics professor Chang Ching-ray (張慶瑞), Graduate Institute of Networking and Multimedia professor Chen Ming-hsien (陳銘憲) and history professor Chen Jo-shui (陳弱水).
If NTU refuses to cooperate, the ministry would formally respond to the administrative appeal by Oct. 3, he said, adding that he hopes to avoid a lawsuit, because it might affect the university’s stability.
“Only by ensuring fairness can presidential elections be considered legitimate. I hope that there will be no more hesitation from either side, because the nation’s administrative procedures, which are essential to the rule of law, must not be further compromised,” Yeh said.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US
NATIONAL DAY: The ‘Taiwan Dome’ would form the centerpiece of new efforts to bolster air defense and be modeled after Israel’s ‘Iron Dome,’ sources said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday pledged to strengthen the nation’s air defense capabilities and build a “T-Dome” system to create a safety net against growing military threats from China. “We will accelerate our building of the T-Dome, establish a rigorous air defense system in Taiwan with multi-layered defense, high-level detection and effective interception, and weave a safety net for Taiwan to protect the lives and property of citizens,” he said in his National Day address. In his keynote address marking the Republic of China’s (ROC) 114th anniversary, Lai said the lessons of World War II have taught nations worldwide “to ensure that
RSS