Academia Sinica academician and NTU president-elect Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) yesterday reiterated that he will not back down from what he called a fight for National Taiwan University’s (NTU) autonomy against government intervention, in a speech at an annual gala held by the Southern California National Taiwan University Alumni Association in Los Angeles.
Kuan was on Jan. 5 elected NTU president, but the Ministry of Education in April refused to appoint him amid allegations of plagiarism and a conflict of interest, as well as a flawed selection process.
Since then, three administrative appeals have been filed — by NTU students, by the university and by Kuan himself — requesting that the ministry honor the election results and appoint him.
Photo: CNA
When asked by the audience about his plans to tackle the controversy, Kuan said that he had considered giving up, but former NTU president Chen Wei-jao (陳維昭) changed his mind by telling him that the fight is less about who should be president and more about the university’s autonomy.
“I will stand in solidarity with NTU in its fight for university autonomy and insist on not backing down,” he said.
Anyone who supports him is supporting NTU and academic freedom, Kuan said, adding that he hopes to fight the establishment with the power of the public.
Photo: CNA
Meanwhile, several members of the association at a news conference announced the founding of a separate alumni association in Los Angeles.
The new association was founded because the original association insisted on inviting Kuan as the keynote speaker at the gala, despite opposition from fellow members, former association council member Lin Mei-li (林美里) said.
More than 200 alumni issued a joint statement criticizing the association’s decision to invite Kuan, who said before his speech that the opposition prompted him to scrap about half of his speech.
On Saturday, the Action Alliance for University Autonomy — which consists of 4,000 NTU students and faculty members — issued a joint statement with 13 other groups from universities nationwide, demanding that new Minister of Education Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) respect the law.
“We are extremely disappointed that Yeh has continued to criticize the election process and request a new vote,” they said, adding that the government should admit its mistake and complete the procedures for the NTU presidential election in accordance with the law.
On Monday last week, when Yeh was inaugurated, a group of students that had filed an administrative appeal applied for a provisional injunction, requesting that the Taipei High Administrative Court order the ministry to temporarily appoint Kuan as NTU president until a ruling is made.
Yeh has said that resolving the standoff is a priority.
Before Yeh took office, the controversy led to the resignations of former education ministers Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) in April and Wu Maw-kuen (吳茂昆) in May.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS