About six months ago, media reports said that China’s Cross-Strait Tsinghua Research Institute had opened an office at Taiwan’s National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) in 2016 for research and development, talent recruitment and investment promotion. The news drew a lot of public attention amid concerns over national security.
When the news first broke, the university’s Tze-Chiang Foundation of Science and Technology quickly announced that it would stop renting the office to the institute, adding that the unit was not affiliated to the university, and that the school administration was completely unaware of, and did not participate, in its operation.
Is it appropriate for the university to shirk its responsibility like this?
When the Legislative Yuan was reviewing the Act for National Key Fields Industry-University Cooperation and Skilled Personnel Training (國家重點領域產學合作及人才培育創新條例) in the middle of May, some civic groups — such as the Economic Democracy Union and the National Students’ Union of Taiwan — held a joint news conference regarding the bill. They specifically targeted the institute, expressing doubts about the possible outflow of key technologies.
At the time, NTHU officials said the accusations were groundless and untrustworthy, adding that the office was established in accordance with relevant laws, such as the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).
School officials also demanded that civic groups stop cooking up charges against the university, adding that, if necessary, the school might file a lawsuit so as to safeguard university autonomy protected by the Constitution.
The tough stance that it took on this matter was noteworthy in itself.
Surprisingly, six months later, a National Security Bureau investigation confirmed that the university had rented the on-campus office to the institute without asking for the Ministry of Education’s permission, and the illegal operation of the unit was finally exposed to the public.
From the perspective of crisis management, NTHU handled the issue promptly and decisively this time. Nonetheless, the university half a year ago did threaten to sue civic groups that questioned the operations of the institute. Does the school administration not owe the brave “whistle-blowers” a sincere and public apology?
Lo Cheng-chung is director of Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology’s Institute of Financial and Economic Law.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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