The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday reiterated its calls for newly inaugurated Minister of Education Wu Maw-kuen (吳茂昆) to step down following a series of allegations involving conflicts of interest and misappropriation of patent rights.
Wu was on Monday accused of attempting to steal the patent rights, while he was president of National Dong Hwa University, to a technology that he had invented with another professor and two students and of investing in the company Spiranthes Biotech through his wife to avoid contravening a provision of the Civil Servants Work Act (公務人員服務法) that bans civil servants from owning or investing in businesses.
Wu yesterday denied misappropriating patent rights to the technology, which is owned by the university, and said the company did not use the patented technology.
However, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Culture and Communications Committee deputy director-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said at a news conference that the company’s Web site claims ownership of the patents for products made using the technology in several nations.
The patent number provided on the Web site is the same as the one that belongs to National Dong Hwa University, he said.
“Either Wu is lying or Spiranthes Biotech’s advertisement is false,” Hung said. “To cover up a lie, one must tell more lies. Wu’s stories are becoming increasingly far-fetched. A person who lies should not be the minister of education.”
Wu has allegedly been applying for patents for the technology in his own name in China and the US in an attempt to better advertise the products and increase his profits, he said.
“Has the company shared any of its profits with the university? Have they signed any agreement? If the answers are ‘no,’ then Wu used his position as university president to take advantage of the school’s resources and share them with his close friends,” Hung said.
If Wu still has any pride as an academic, he should properly explain his use of the patent and step down, the KMT said in a statement.
The Alliance for Education Action also urged Wu to step down.
Since Wu took office on Thursday last week, he has been accused of illegally receiving research bonuses, illegally working in China, stealing patent rights and illegally owning businesses, the alliance said.
“The role of a minister of education, just like the Academia Sinica president and National Taiwan University president, is one that people look up to. The occupant must set an example for others,” the alliance said. “When determining whether people are fit for those positions, the law is the bottom line.”
If the controversies cannot be resolved, the government must decide what to do as soon as possible, the alliance said.
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