Former minister of education Wu Maw-kuen (吳茂昆) was yesterday impeached by the Control Yuan for contravening the Public Functionary Service Act (公務員服務法) and Act on the Recusal of Public Servants Due to Conflict of Interest (公職人員利益衝突迴避法) after he was found to have applied for patents for a technology owned by National Dong Hwa University in the name of his company.
The Control Yuan in April launched an investigation into Wu’s involvement with a company called Spiranthes Biotech LLC, which he founded in California in 2015, after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) accused him of illegally founding the company and applying for patents for technology he invented with a research team at the university.
Members on the Control Yuan’ examination committee unanimously voted to impeach Wu. It was the first time an examination committee at a government branch held an open vote that resulted in a unanimous decision.
Photo: CNA
Wu applied to establish the company on Aug. 18, 2015, and founded it on Sept. 2 after the state government approved his application, a Control Yuan report said.
Wu was one of the shareholders at the company, with managerial control over business operations, and participated in its patent application process, it said.
The company had a registered capital of US$1,000, with US$200 coming from Wu, which contravenes Article 13, Paragraph 1 of the Public Functionary Service Act, which bans civil servants from owning and investing in businesses, the report said.
Wu also encroached upon the university’s rights by applying for patents for its technology in the name of his company, it said.
During his term as university president, Wu approved a school budget to cover the expenses his company needed to apply for patents, the report said.
The university on March 15, 2016, wired NT$766,952 to the law firm WSGR without knowing that the patent application was to be submitted in the name of Wu’s company, it said.
This violated provisions on conflict of interest in the Public Functionary Service Act and the Act on the Recusal of Public Servants Due to Conflict of Interest, it said.
Wu yesterday denied any wrongdoing.
In April, Wu said that he had planned to return the patent rights to the university once the company obtained them in the US and China.
He also said that it is common practice for inventors to apply for patents for their inventions, then negotiate with their university on how to share the revenue.
Additional reporting by Ann Maxon
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: A US Air Force KC-135 tanker came less than 1,000 feet of an EVA plane and was warned off by a Taipei air traffic controller, a report said A US aerial refueling aircraft came very close to an EVA Airways jet in the airspace over southern Taiwan, a military aviation news Web site said. A report published by Alert 5 on Tuesday said that automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast (ADS-B) data captured by planfinder.net on Wednesday last week showed a US Air Force KC-135 tanker “coming less than 1,000 feet [305m] vertically with EVA Air flight BR225 as both aircraft crossed path south of Taiwan” that morning. The report included an audio recording of a female controller from the Taipei air traffic control center telling the unidentified aircraft that it was
A US aircraft carrier group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt has entered the South China Sea to promote “freedom of the seas,” the US military said yesterday, as tensions between China and Taiwan raise concerns in Washington. US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that the strike group entered the South China Sea on Saturday, the same day Taiwan reported a large incursion of Chinese bombers and fighter jets into its air defense identification zone near the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). The US military said the carrier strike group was in the South China Sea, a large part of which
STRATEGIC MISTAKE: Beijing’s deployment of aircraft near Taiwan proves the ‘China threat theory’ that sees it attempting to destabilize the region, an analyst said China on Saturday and yesterday sent a record number of military aircraft into the nation’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), in what analysts said was an attempt to flex its military might for US President Joe Biden. Thirteen Chinese warplanes flew into Taiwan’s southwestern ADIZ on Saturday and 15 entered yesterday, the highest number observed in a single day this year, the Ministry of National Defense said. On Saturday, eight Xian H-6K bombers, four Shenyang J-16 fighters and a Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, entered the ADIZ, while yesterday there were two Y-8s, two Su-30s, four J-16s, six J-10 fighters and a Y-8 reconnaissance
DISPOSING MYTHS: A new constitution would better reflect reality, as the current one was drafted ‘in and for China,’ without the consent of Taiwanese, advocates said Independence advocates yesterday launched the Taiwan New Constitution Alliance to promote drafting a new, localized constitution. “This is a historic moment for Taiwan. Drafting a new constitution is the most important task Taiwanese face,” veteran independence advocate Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) said at the inaugural event in Taipei. “Although the Democratic Progressive Party is in power, its authority is based on the Republic of China [ROC] Constitution, which has no connection to Taiwan,” said the 95-year-old Koo, a former presidential adviser. “The historic task of drafting a new constitution depends on efforts by all Taiwanese,” Koo said. “A constitution for a sovereign, independent Taiwan