Following the Control Yuan’s impeachment of Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) on Tuesday, Wong issued a five-point statement defending his reputation and denouncing the watchdog body for “making a hasty decision, as the judicial process has not yet taken its course.”
The Control Yuan on Tuesday voted to impeach Wong, saying he had engaged in profiteering and other financial crimes linked to the OBI Pharma (台灣浩鼎) scandal.
“I have not violated the rule on conflict of interest with regards to Academia Sinica’s transfer of technology to OBI Pharma, and therefore I cannot accept the Control Yuan’s impeachment. The reasons cited for it contained serious misunderstandings,” he wrote.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Wong also said the Control Yuan’s decision was made without regard for due process, as he had not been given the opportunity to give his side of the story during the impeachment procedure.
The statement said that Wong and his relatives purchased OBI Pharma shares because most of the company’s new cancer vaccine products were based on his own innovations in the fields of biochemical technology research and technological transfers to the company, “for which the related bank loans and investment into the company were not illegal, and there was no guarantee of deriving profit from the investment.”
“As head of Academia Sinica at the time, I was responsible for establishing the oversight on conflict of interest rules. As the person in charge, I have not violated the conflict of interest rules and did not actively make comments on OBI Pharma’s clinical trial testing of the cancer vaccine products,” he said.
“There were reports on my comments regarding the clinical trial results, but it was strictly due to being ‘ambushed’ into answering questions posed by the media, when they asked me to discuss my personal research,” he said.
“At the time, I did not make clear explanations regarding the holding of OBI Pharma shares and I admit it was a mistake not to do so. However, it was not due to any unethical intentions,” he said.
Judicial officials yesterday said that the principle of presumption of innocence until proven guilty should be upheld in the litigation against Wong, while noting that if he loses the public prosecution case, then he might lose out on all his retirement pension benefits.
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