National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday downplayed allegations of a conflict of interest between its president-elect, Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔), and a member of the president election committee, after media reports revealed the two are colleagues at Taiwan Mobile Co.
The CommonWealth Magazine Web site on Friday last week reported that, according to a tip-off, Kuan, who is also an independent director of Taiwan Mobile Co, was elected president because of votes he received from three company executives on the committee: Taiwan Mobile Co vice chairman Richard Tsai (蔡明興), Quanta president C.C. Leung (梁次震) and Yuanta Futures president Chou Hsiao-ling (周筱玲). The report led to allegations of a conflict of interest.
However, the votes were anonymous, the committee said in a statement yesterday.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The committee has 21 members, including three representatives from the Ministry of Education, one student representative and 17 members elected through university council meetings, it said.
Tsai did not violate the university’s regulations, since he is not a spouse, first-to-third-degree relative, thesis adviser or student of the candidate, and there is no evidence suggesting he would be biased toward Kuan, the statement said.
The university’s registration form does not require candidates to specify their roles at private companies so it cannot be said that Kuan was trying to hide that from the institution, president election committee spokeswoman Yuan Hsiao-wei (袁孝維) said.
According to the university’s regulations, Kuan would have to resign from his post at for-profit organizations to be eligible for NTU president, she added.
Later yesterday, Kuan issued a brief statement saying that he would resign from all posts he holds at for-profit organizations before taking up the role as NTU president.
The ministry is to review the election process of university presidents as required by law, Department of Personnel head Chen Kun-yuan (陳焜元) said, adding that the ministry would decide whether to approve Kuan’s appointment when it receives the document from the university.
Additional reporting by Wu Po-hsuan and Lin Hsiao-yun
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS