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Kuo has said separately that he has withdrawn his candidacy for the position.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.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS