New Power Party (NPP) Chairman Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) yesterday called for the recusal of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Cheng Cheng-chien (鄭正鈐) from the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee, saying that Cheng is facing allegations of plagiarism and could be the subject of a Ministry of Education investigation.
Cheng, together with the KMT, should issue a public apology to Hsinchu County voters, Hsu said at a news conference in Taipei.
Former NPP legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said at a news conference last week that Cheng had plagiarized 50 percent of his doctoral thesis at Chung Hwa University.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The NPP is calling out Cheng, because the university has said it would only look into the matter if there is proof, unlike National Sun Yat-sen University, which is actively looking into claims of plagiarism against KMT Kaohsiung mayoral by-election candidate Jane Lee (李眉蓁), Hsu said.
Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media on Thursday last week said that Lee plagiarized 96 percent of her master’s thesis.
Whether Cheng’s thesis is valid has brought his title of assistant professor into question, Hsu said, adding that he suspects Chung Hwa University has cut corners when reviewing Cheng’s paper.
The Ministry of Education is responsible for conferring the title of assistant professor on academics after three separate reviews by the institution they are enrolled in, Hsu said.
Cheng being granted the position could be an indication that the university had not duly reviewed his credentials, Hsu said, calling on the ministry to investigate the matter.
Hsu added that Cheng should recuse himself from the legislature’s standing committee, as his presence on the committee could hinder the ministry from launching an investigation.
He said this move would follow precedents of legislators being barred from joining the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee if they are involved in ongoing legal cases.
Chung Hwa University, cofounded in 1990 by former Hsinchu mayor Lin Cheng-tze (林政則), appears to be a favorite of politicians and businesspeople in the Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli area, NPP Hsinchu City Councilor Liao Tzu-chi (廖子齊) said.
As Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅), Hsinchu County Commissioner Yang Wen-ke (楊文科) and Miaoli County Commissioner Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌) obtained their degrees from Chung Hwa University, the public might also question the authenticity of their theses, Liao said.
Soochow University School of Law professor Hu Po-yen (胡博硯) said that ultimately, it is up to the ministry to resolve the issue because it is all interconnected.
The validity of academic degrees is based on the Degree Conferral Act (學位授予法) and per Article 17 of the act, any act of plagiarism will result in the revocation of the degree, Hu said, adding that the title of assistant professor is conferred by the ministry, which is based on the validity of the individual’s doctoral thesis.
SHORT-TERM OUTLOOK: The Chinese military would most likely focus on rebuilding its organization and leadership in the next few years, experts said Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) military purge has reduced the risks of a planned war against Taiwan, yet increased the danger of a conflict sparked by a miscalculation or accident, Taiwanese experts said yesterday. They made the comments at a seminar on the Fifth Plenary Session of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 20th Central Committee held by the research group Secure Taiwan Associate Corp (STA) in Taipei. The wholesale sacking of Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officers and managers of the aerospace and defense industry is sure to set back Xi’s timetable to prepare the PLA to launch an invasion of Taiwan
BATTLE-TESTED: Czech companies’ drones, software and navigation systems have been tested in the Ukraine war, while other countries’ are lab-tested, a Czech ex-official said Czech manufacturers are interested in setting up drone assembly lines in Taiwan, former Czech Chamber of Deputies president Marketa Pekarova Adamova told a forum in Taipei yesterday. Adamova made the comments at the inauguration of the Global UAV Academy, an organization dedicated to international cooperation in drone supply chains, technological certification and pilot training. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology said the Czech Republic is the largest importer of Taiwanese drones and uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) components. Adamova, who transitioned to the defense industry after retiring from politics, said the Roman adage “si vis pacem, para bellum” — “If you
WORRIES PILE UP: The planned extension would generate nearly 10 million cubic meters of excavated soil, the disposal of which has not been explained, a former EPA official said Yilan County residents, backed by civic groups, on Wednesday filed an administrative lawsuit to overturn the environmental impact assessment (EIA) approval for the Yilan-bound high-speed rail (HSR) extension. They filed the lawsuit after the Executive Yuan on Sept. 11 rejected an administrative appeal. Former Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) deputy minister and lawyer Thomas Chan (詹順貴) said the project’s EIA review was one of the hastiest he had ever seen during his 30-year career in environmental law. Construction of the line would generate nearly 10 million cubic meters of excavated earth and rock, the disposal of which has not yet been explained to the
STAY VIGILANT: An aircraft carrier and battle group were located to the east of the Philippines, while other ships were identified off the east and southeast coast of Taiwan China has more than 50 naval and other official vessels operating in a wide swath of sea stretching from southern Japan down to Taiwan and off the Philippines, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Wednesday, calling the threat level “obvious.” Taiwan is stepping up efforts to issue details and maps depicting locations where Chinese warships and coast guard vessels operate. “We are staying vigilant about their activities,” Wu said. “The simultaneous threat to Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines is obvious.” The remarks accompanied a map he posted on X showing the locations of 53 ships, 34 of them navy warships,
RSS