The National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) Student Association yesterday accused the university of lying after it denied having mobilized employees and students to attend a news conference held by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) on Thursday to announce his bid to run for president.
Wang, an NTNU alumnus, was greeted by hundreds of supporters at the news conference on the roof of the Taipei International Convention Center.
However, some members of the audience — introduced as “industry representatives” — were employees or students at the university, the association said later, adding that five employees from the university’s Center of Public Affairs, including the director, were present, as were the university’s ambassadors and taekwondo team members.
The university on Friday denied having mobilized students and employees to attend the event during office hours, saying they attended of their own accord.
The student ambassadors were there to care for elderly alumni, while Wang invited the taekwondo team, it said.
However, the association yesterday said it had received word from students alleging that the school had given them gift certificates issued by Pacific Sogo department store for attending the news conference.
The university initially asked them to fill out a form to take official leave, but later reversed the order and asked them to take annual leave, informants were quoted as saying, adding that the students who had already been granted leave were required to have it revoked.
NTNU, as a national university, has breached administrative neutrality, and should own up to its mistake and publicly apologize, the association said in a statement.
The university said it is tradition to pay its ambassadors whenever they are requested to attend an event, whether it is arranged by the government or, in this case, at the request of the NTNU Alumni Association.
It would give the association a clearer account of the gift certificates, the university added.
When asked for comment about the mobilization accusations yesterday, Wang said: “Why would I do such a thing?”
All the attendees were there on their own initiative, he said, adding: “I even asked [Kaohsiung Mayor] Han Kuo-yu [韓國瑜] not to come.”
Additional reporting by Yang Chin-cheng
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