National policy adviser to the president Shieh Ching-jyh (謝清志) earlier this month initiated a petition in the US in support of former Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠), who in January was indicted on charges of corruption and misconduct as a public servant in a case involving the development of a cancer drug by biotech firm OBI Pharma Inc.
The Control Yuan on July 4 impeached Wong while the trial was ongoing, saying he engaged in profiteering and other financial crimes linked to the OBI Pharma scandal.
Wong later issued a statement pledging his innocence, saying he was not in violation of conflict of interest rules and that the Control Yuan’s “hasty decision” was made without regard for due process, as he had not been given the opportunity to tell his side of the story.
Control Yuan officials did not clarify the truth before making the decision, especially when the judicial process was still under way, Shieh said.
“Taiwanese technological specialists in the US saw Wong persecuted and blackmailed time and again. His image as portrayed by the media was diametrically opposed to the man we know,” he said.
“To our knowledge, Wong is an honest and upright academic. When he worked in the US or when he served as the Sinica’s head, he always actively engaged in the academic events organized by Taiwanese or foreign institutions no matter how busy he was,” he added.
The petition has garnered 454 signatures in the past two weeks, including 80 from the North American Taiwanese Professors’ Association, 83 from the North American Taiwanese Engineering & Science Association’s (NATEA) branch in Silicon Valley, California, and 139 from Taiwanese American Foundation of San Diego, among others.
Shieh, who is also chairman of NATEA, said he hoped the avid support for Wong among overseas Taiwanese would bring more attention to the truth of the OBI Pharma scandal and ensure that the judges make a fair decision.
Shieh was a deputy minister of the National Science Council (now the Ministry of Science and Technology) from 2000 to 2006.
In 2006, nine academic specialists and contractors, including Shieh, were accused of suspected irregularities regarding a contract awarded by the council to reduce high-speed train vibrations near the Southern Taiwan Science Park, for which Shieh was detained for 59 days.
In 2012 after a six-year trial, the Taiwan High Court’s Tainan branch delivered a not-guilty verdict.
Last month, 70 members of Academia Sinica, the nation’s top academic institute, issued a joint statement denouncing Wong’s impeachment.
Wong is a prominent biochemist who has worked in the US and had been touted as a potential Nobel Prize winner for his research.
After being appointed Academia Sinica president in October 2007, Wong began working on cancer vaccine technologies and collaborated on research projects with OBI Pharma chairman Michael Chang (張念慈), a friend from his time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Wong in March last year tendered his resignation, which was approved by the Presidential Office two months later.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese