President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has filed a defamation lawsuit against National Taiwan University professor emeritus Ho De-fen (賀德芬) and University of North Carolina at Charlotte Belk College of Business professor Hwan C. Lin (林環牆), the Presidential Office said yesterday.
Ho on Thursday last week accused Tsai of forging her diploma and falsely stating that she obtained her doctorate from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984, citing what she said was an independent investigation by Lin, but not detailing its results.
The accusations are untrue, damaged the president’s reputation and undermined her credibility, the office said yesterday.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
Lawyers Lien Yuan-lung (連元龍) and Chang Jen-chih (張人志), representing Tsai, provided documents to the Taipei District Court from numerous sources confirming the veracity of Tsai’s dissertation and doctoral degree.
Upon request by the Presidential Office, the LSE provided a copy of Tsai’s dissertation, titled “Unfair Trade Practices and Safeguard Actions”; a copy of an official notice, dated February 1984, sent to Tsai informing her that she had passed her oral defense of the dissertation; and a photocopy of Tsai’s diploma, dated March 1984, it said.
The copy of Tsai’s dissertation sent by the LSE also contained the names of both of her thesis advisers, surnamed Lazar and Elliot, it said.
The credentials sent by the LSE matched those archived in the Ministry of Education and the Presidential Office, it added.
The office said that it had contacted National Chengchi University, where Tsai landed her first job after returning to Taiwan, and received confirmation that it has three copies of Tsai’s dissertation.
This proves that Tsai completed her doctoral studies and dissertation in 1984, it said.
Tsai was only a returning academic in 1984 and held no post in the government or the Democratic Progressive Party, so there is no reason for any government agency or university to “help cover” for her in 1984, it added.
As president, Tsai must maintain social credibility, the office said, adding that such baseless accusations have crossed the line.
As Ho has requested that the judiciary become involved, legal action has been taken, the office said, adding that it hoped the results would quell such “absurd and meaningless questions.”
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
CASE: Prosecutors have requested heavy sentences, citing a lack of remorse and the defendants’ role in ‘undermining the country’s democratic foundations’ Five people affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), including senior staff from the party’s Taipei branch, were indicted yesterday for allegedly forging thousands of signatures to recall two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. Those indicted include KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦茹), secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿) and secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文), the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said in a news release. Prosecutors said the three were responsible for fabricating 5,211 signature forms — 2,537 related to the recall of DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) and 2,674 for DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) — with forged entries accounting for
RSS