National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) yesterday said that it has conferred an honorary doctorate in law on Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi for her pursuit of democracy in Myanmar.
“It is a great honor for National Chiao Tung University [NCTU] to present an honorary doctorate to one of the greatest politicians in the world,” the school said in a statement.
It is the first honorary doctorate that Aung Sang Suu Kyi has received since she was released from house arrest in 2010.
Former university president Wu Yan-hwa (吳妍華), who traveled to Yangon to present the degree to Aung Sang Suu Kyi on Saturday, said she was a role model for the university’s faculty and students because of her pursuit of freedom, democracy and human rights.
The school’s statement quoted Aung Sang Suu Kyi as saying that she was happy to be awarded a degree in law, an area she cares about, since only the rule of law can bring peace to a country.
She said that her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), gave top priority to “rule of law” in its election manifesto so Burmese who see the law as an instrument to suppress uprising and to enhance the government’s power could understand that the “law is about bringing harmony and peace to a society,” the statement added.
Aung Sang Suu Kyi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 while she was under house arrest, led the NLD to a landslide victory in Myanmar’s Nov. 8 elections. The party won enough seats in both houses of the parliament to form the next government.
Former minister of education Ovid Tzeng (曾志朗), chancellor of the University System of Taiwan, traveled with Wu to Myanmar for the presentation ceremony.
Tzeng said he invited Aung Sang Suu Kyi to visit Taiwan to speak as part of the Sayling Wen Academic Lecture Series.
NCTU, National Tsing Hua University, National Central University and National Yang-ming University are the four schools in the system.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and