Three Cabinet officials who come from academic circles were accused by legislators of allegedly plagiarizing their students' theses, local media reported yesterday.
A lawmaker who requested not to be named, over the weekend accused the National Science Council Chairman Weng Cheng-i (翁政義) of plagiarism. The lawmaker said that a research paper written by the official in 1994 resembled a thesis by Sun Yen-shuo (孫彥碩), a student of Weng's.
"If investigations proves [the alleged plagiarism] is true, I will step down," the NSC chairman said during a meeting with lawmakers from the Technology and Information Committee at the Legislative Yuan.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMESN
Two more officials, Minister of Education Ovid Tseng (
The PFP lawmakers said Tseng received NT$667,300 of funding from the NSC in 1996 for research on the Chinese language.
The lawmakers claimed that an excerpt from the piece of research, which was completed in July 1997, is almost exactly the same as a thesis written by Ho Chia-yun (何佳芸) in July 1996, with only six words being different.
"How could it be possible? I am very self-disciplined when it comes to academic research. It's a very serious accusation," said the education minister after hearing that he was accused of academic plagiarism.
However, the acting Director of the Higher Education Department Chen Te-hua (
The opposition lawmakers also accused the public construction commission chairman, saying that a management research paper conducted by the official and funded by the NSC in 1993 closely resembled a thesis written by Tseng Teh-ming (曾德銘), a graduate student from the National Taiwan University, in July 1994.
The official denied the lawmakers' accusation by saying that he proposed the research first and it was not possible for the two papers to be completely the same.
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
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting
RSS