Three former National Taiwan University (NTU) presidents yesterday criticized the government for not approving the appointment of NTU president-elect Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) and undermining university autonomy.
It has been almost 50 days since the ministry received documents about Kuan’s election and the delayed appointment has caused great anxiety among faculty, students and alumni alike, former university president Sun Chen (孫震) said at a Lunar New Year event hosted by the university.
Kuan was originally scheduled to take office on Feb. 1, but the Ministry of Education put his appointment on hold due to allegations of plagiarism and a conflict of interest that cast doubt over his eligibility.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Sun blamed President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) — an NTU alumnus — for Kuan’s delayed appointment and said that every major policy her administration has promoted “has been damaging to the nation.”
“Is her next step aimed at causing damage to her own school? Or Taiwan’s academia, including all 21 members on the NTU presidential selection committee?” Sun asked.
The Tsai administration has already lost credibility because of its poor policies and it is now risking losing more trust and respect from the public by not approving Kuan’s appointment, he said.
Former university president Chen Wei-jao (陳維昭), who doubles as convener of the school’s presidential selection committee, said the ministry was disregarding regulations and disrespecting university autonomy.
“This is the darkest time for university democracy and academic freedom,” he said. “We must work together to safeguard academic freedom and eventually the school shall triumph.”
The university should preserve documents related to the election to preserve this moment in its history, he added.
Former university president Lee Si-chen (李嗣涔) called on Tsai to stop the education ministry from interfering with university autonomy and abusing its power.
“The ministry has tortured NTU for more than a month,” he said, adding that university autonomy was “on the verge on dying.”
Former university president Yang Pan-chyr (楊泮池), who stepped down in June last year after he became embroiled in an academic fraud scandal, did not explicitly comment on the election, but said that he hoped the university could soon “leave all its troubles behind.”
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
RSS