Exiled Chinese democracy activist Wang Dan (王丹), who is a visiting assistant professor at National Tsing Hua University, said he has been informed by the school that his teaching contract is not to be renewed, following five years of employment set to end in July.
Wang’s support of prominent Sunflower movement student Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷), who has been involved in a scandal over allegedly groping several women, met with protests and demands for his removal from his post.
Wang yesterday said on Facebook that he had a meeting with university president Hocheng Hong (賀陳弘), on Wednesday, at which Hocheng said that academics should not become involved with politics, and Wang was informed of the university’s decision not to renew his contract.
“The president first praised my achievement in the field of teaching, where I have several times been ranked among the top in the school’s teaching evaluation. He then said he cares about my future career and advised me to find stable employment in the US,” Wang wrote.
In response to Hocheng’s suggestion, Wang said he told him that he has not been teaching in Taiwan out of personal interest.
“[I came here] out of my feelings for Taiwan and the ideal that I could do something meaningful,” he wrote.
While Wang told Hocheng he could “totally understand” if the university made the decision not to renew his employment for financial reasons, and he “is willing to believe that the school is not asking me to leave for political reasons,” the exiled activist said that the school has not been clear on the issue.
“The department head [of the university’s Interdisciplinary Program of Humanities and Social Sciences] expressed his hope to keep me to the president and stressed the department and the college have decided to fundraise and are confident that they could succeed,” Wang said of his meeting with the university.
However, Hocheng told him during the meeting on Wednesday that “budget was not exactly the main reason, which was rather that the university usually would not renew the contract of a contract employee except under special circumstances,” Wang wrote.
Wang has been criticized, and a Facebook page dedicated to a call for his ouster from Taiwan established, for his defense of Chen over the latter’s alleged sexual misconduct last month.
Those who fiercely attacked Wang included Lee Fu-chen (李富城), a news weatherman who has made no bones about his aversion toward the student activists and the Sunflower movement and at the height of the Chen scandal called on his followers to exert pressure on the university to banish Wang by making nonstop phone calls.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
RSS