National Taiwan University (NTU) finance professor Lee Tsun-siou (李存修) engaged in illegal part-time work by sitting on the board of directors of China International Fund Management (上投摩根基金管理), an investment fund company wholly controlled by the Shanghai Municipal Government, New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) claimed yesterday.
Lee has been serving as a board member at the company since 2011, Huang said at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee in Taipei.
The firm is backed by the Shanghai Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, over which the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government has “100 percent control,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Huang Kuo-chang’s legislative office
Government regulations stipulate that public university professors cannot serve on the board of a Chinese company, he said.
By being a board member, Lee has clearly broken the law, Huang said, questioning why NTU had not reported the breach to the Ministry of Education.
Huang asked the ministry to complete a thorough investigation within a week.
If substantiated, Lee has clearly breached the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said, adding that the ministry would instruct NTU to investigate.
Huang rebuked the ministry for failing to provide a list of public university professors who hold board positions, asking Pan which ministry official had decided not to disclose the names.
“Who is going to take the responsibility?” Huang said, adding that even Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) had found it “unacceptable” when the ministry claimed it was withholding the list to protect people’s privacy.
Huang also questioned whether the ministry’s list was complete, saying that NTU might be withholding information.
Lee’s alleged breach is not an isolated case and the ministry should instruct NTU to “stop concealing” information, he said.
Pan, who returned as education minister in January after stepping down in April last year due to controversy surrounding NTU’s selection of a new president, said that he was not minister when such a decision was made, but he promised to look into the matter.
NTU has a responsibility to clarify the allegation, he added.
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