A controversy over outgoing National Chi Nan University President Lee Chia-tung (
A group of parents of the university's students filed an appeal with Minister of Education Kirby Yung (
"Politics should not interfere in academics," the parents told Yung.
Puli residents, meanwhile, are divided on the issue. A group of more then ten local organizations from Puli launched a joint petition drive yesterday demanding Lee's resignation, threatening to stage protests at the university's campus if he stays.
However, Puli township Mayor Chang Hung-ming (張鴻銘) said Lee should return to Puli as soon as possible to help with the relief and reconstruction work rather than resigning from his post, and that Lee should work quickly to rebuild his relations with the local community.
On Thursday, Lee announced his plan to resign after he faced fierce criticism from legislators for having led his faculty and students on a controversial exodus out of quake-stricken Puli in Nantou County after the 921 earthquake.
The legislators accused him of failing to respond to the needs of the local community in Puli.
Under Lee's arrangement, Chi Nan University moved temporarily to Taipei and resumed classes on Oct. 11 on the campus of National Taiwan University.
Meanwhile, Lee has accused Vice President Lien Chan (
Lee also said Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (
Responding to media reports that the Academia Sinica chief is set to release an open letter on the issue, Lee said he would look at the contents of the letter before he decides whether or not to stay.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
EMBRACING TAIWAN: US lawmakers have introduced an act aiming to replace the use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ with ‘Taiwan’ across all Washington’s federal agencies A group of US House of Representatives lawmakers has introduced legislation to replace the term “Chinese Taipei” with “Taiwan” across all federal agencies. US Representative Byron Donalds announced the introduction of the “America supports Taiwan act,” which would mandate federal agencies adopt “Taiwan” in place of “Chinese Taipei,” a news release on his page on the US House of Representatives’ Web site said. US representatives Mike Collins, Barry Moore and Tom Tiffany are cosponsors of the legislation, US political newspaper The Hill reported yesterday. “The legislation is a push to normalize the position of Taiwan as an autonomous country, although the official US
CHANGE OF TONE: G7 foreign ministers dropped past reassurances that there is no change in the position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including ‘one China’ policies G7 foreign ministers on Friday took a tough stance on China, stepping up their language on Taiwan and omitting some conciliatory references from past statements, including to “one China” policies. A statement by ministers meeting in Canada mirrored last month’s Japan-US statement in condemning “coercion” toward Taiwan. Compared with a G7 foreign ministers’ statement in November last year, the statement added members’ concerns over China’s nuclear buildup, although it omitted references to their concerns about Beijing’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. Also missing were references stressing the desire for “constructive and stable relations with China” and
RSS