National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday expressed its strong objection and regret over the Ministry of Education’s decision the previous day to not approve the appointment of Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) as school president.
NTU said in a statement that it had adhered to regulations throughout the election process, contrary to the reasons cited by the ministry for not appointing him.
Deputy Minister of Education Lin Teng-chiao (林騰蛟) on Friday cited conflict of interest as the main factor in the ministry’s decision not to confirm Kuan’s appointment.
Photo: Peng Wan-hsin, Taipei Times
Lin was referring to Kuan serving as an independent director on the board of Taiwan Mobile (台灣大哥大) during the election while Taiwan Mobile vice chairman Richard Tsai (蔡明興) was on the NTU president election committee.
Regarding whether NTU would accept the ministry’s decision and start a new election process, it only said that it would “act in accordance with the law” once it receives a written notice of the decision.
Minister of Education Wu Maw-kuen (吳茂昆) on Friday said the ministry would step in if any legal issues arise in the new election process.
Kuan had breached NTU regulations by not disclosing his role as an independent director at Taiwan Mobile while Tsai was sitting on the election committee, he said.
It is now up to the committee to verify the conflict of interest and decide whether Kuan should be nominated again, Wu said.
Kuan, who was scheduled to take office on Feb. 1, has declined to comment on the decision.
Wang Fan-sen (王汎森), former vice president of Academia Sinica and one of the candidates for NTU president who lost to Kuan, said in a text message on Friday that he would not run for school president.
Another candidate, former National Tsing Hua University vice president Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文), also said that he would not run if the election process is marred by controversy and outside intervention.
The NTU student council has called for the implementation of “much-needed reforms” and has urged the school administration not to wait until a new president takes office.
The proposed reforms include introducing more gender-friendly facilities and clarifying the regulations pertaining to renting out the school’s gym and sports facilities, the student council said.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
‘BOOMING’: ’ The number of partners we have here is incredible. You can see from their stock prices. They’re doing so well, they’re so happy,’ Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp’s spending in Taiwan has ballooned to about US$150 billion a year, 10 times the US$10 billion to US$15 billion the company spent five years ago, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, suggesting Taiwan’s strategic importance in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain. “Taiwan is the epicenter of the AI revolution. This is where the chips come, packaging comes. This is where the systems are made. This is where AI supercomputers were created,” Huang said at a meeting for the company’s employees in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei, the planned site of Nvidia’s Taipei headquarters. “Taiwan
GREATER REACH? Auto parts and wood products would face tariffs of up to 15%, matching those targeting the EU, Japan and South Korea, Vice Premier said The US has announced that preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan’s non-semiconductor Section 232 goods would take effect retroactively from May 1, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The US government yesterday posted a notice on the Federal Register’s public inspection Web site previewing tariff concessions for Taiwan under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Taiwan-US investment after two months of negotiations. The MOU signed on Jan. 15 stipulated three major preferential tariff arrangements: a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate for Taiwan without stacking most-favored nation (MFN) rates; preferential Section 232 treatment for semiconductors and related products; and preferential Section 232 treatment for non-semiconductor
RSS