The Presidential Office yesterday said that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) would leave the appointment of the next president of Academia Sinica to president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), after the outgoing president’s plan to meet with the three nominated candidates before leaving office fell through.
Citing a letter sent to the office by Academia Sinica interim president Wang Fan-sen (王汎森) yesterday morning, Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) said in a statement issued later yesterday that it had been confirmed that a meeting between Ma and the three candidates could not be arranged before Friday, when Tsai is to be sworn in.
“Wang explained in the letter that two of the nominated candidates — University of California Los Angeles department of chemistry and biochemistry director James Liao (廖俊智) and Academia Sinica institute of atomic and molecular sciences director Chou Mei-yin (周美吟) — expressed the hope to meet with Ma only after the president had made an unequivocal instruction on the legitimacy and effectiveness of their nominations by the Academia Sinica Council,” Chen said.
City University of Hong Kong president Kuo Way (郭位) has yet to respond to a request for a meeting with Ma, Chen said.
Kuo has said separately that he has withdrawn his candidacy for the position.
Chen said since Ma expressed his attitude toward the nominations in a letter written by Presidential Office Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) on Thursday last week, which described the nomination process as “involving no nonconformity with the law thus far,” he does not see the need to further explain the matter.
Upholding his earlier pledge not to make an appointment before talking to the candidates about their aspirations for the institute, Ma has decided to let Tsai make the decision, Chen said.
Ma made the decision amid growing calls for Tsai to appoint the next president of Academia Sinica, the nation’s top academic institute, which has been dogged by controversy since former president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) became embroiled in an insider trading and corruption scandal involving biotech company OBI Pharma Inc (台灣浩鼎) in February.
As controversy over the case intensified, Wong, who was in the US at the time, faxed his resignation to Ma on March 29, but it was rejected and the president urged him to return to Taiwan and explain the case at the earliest date.
In an unexpected move, Ma approved Wong’s resignation on Wednesday last week and subsequently designated Wang as interim president.
According to Article 3 of the Organization Act of Academia Sinica (中央研究院組織法), the Academia Sinica Council should select three candidates, one of whom should then be appointed to a five-year term by the president.
Academia Sinica has enjoyed high prestige both domestically and internationally since its establishment in 1928, Chen said, but the institution is facing an unprecedented crisis.
“Ma believes the institute is in need of a forward-thinking and morally disciplined president to steer it away from the shadows and restore its hard-earned academic reputation,” Chen said.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS