The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taoyuan mayoral candidate Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) yesterday denied allegations that he plagiarized his two theses at a news conference in Taipei, where he was accompanied by a lawyer.
The accusations against Lin, who obtained two master’s degrees, were first made on July 5 by Taipei City Councilor Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Wang said that Lin’s master’s thesis from his studies at Chung Hua University plagiarized a report commissioned by the Hsinchu Science Park Administration.
Political commentator Huang Yang-ming (黃揚明) on the same day also said he had found “striking similarities” between the first two chapters of Lin’s 2017 master’s thesis, published at National Taiwan University’s (NTU) Graduate Institute of National Development, and the work of Yu Cheng-huang (余正煌), another student at the same institute whose thesis was published in 2016.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Lin said yesterday that the accusations are unfounded, and he held the news conference to “protect my reputation and prove my innocence with evidence, as well as defend the innocent universities, teachers and students that are affected by the accusations.”
Lin said he did not respond at length earlier because he “wanted to let the evidence speak the truth,” and that preparing evidence from 14 years earlier took time to complete.
Lin said that he wrote the master’s thesis at NTU himself, including developing the topic and research method, and denied the plagiarism allegation.
He has asked an attorney to provide an attestation of the evidence, he added.
Correspondence from February 2016 between himself and then-NTU Institute of National Development professor Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) shows the discussion of his research plan, he said.
Chen provided Lin’s thesis outline to Yu for reference, with Lin’s approval, he said, adding that Yu had nearly finished his studies and had his thesis published first.
“I’m a kind material provider, Chen is a responsible adviser and Yu is a graduate student who worked hard to complete his study,” Lin said.
Regarding the Chung Hwa University thesis, Lin said he was a research assistant to his adviser, and together they presented a report at a conference, which became the basis of his thesis.
It is common in academia that students use state-sponsored projects of the advisers as a basis for a thesis, he said.
KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director Lin Chia-hsing (林家興) yesterday said in a statement that Lin’s clarification “raised more questions.”
The sequence diagram provided at the news conference showed that Lin Chih-chien and Yu wrote their proposals and theses at almost the same time, and he said he “referred to the conclusion in Yu’s thesis,” which indicates an element of plagiarism.
Lin Chih-chien also failed to address questions surrounding his research at Chung Hua University, such as how much of the thesis he wrote, he added.
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
COVID-19 infections have climbed for three consecutive weeks and are likely to reach another peak between next month and June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Weekly hospital visits for the disease increased by 19 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to yesterday, 21 cases of severe COVID-19 and seven deaths were confirmed, and from Sept. 1 last year to yesterday, there were 600 cases and 129 deaths, he said. From Oct. 1 last year to yesterday, 95.9 percent of the severe cases and 96.7 percent of the deaths
Restarting the No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant would take up to 18 months, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said today. Kuo was answering questions during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee, where legislators are considering amendments to the Renewable Energy Development Act (再生能源發展條) amid concerns about the consequences of the Pingtung County reactor’s decommissioning scheduled for May 17. Its decommissioning is to mark the end of Taiwan’s nuclear power production. However, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have proposed an amendment to the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法) that would extend the life of existing
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday demanded that Somalia reverse its decision prohibiting Taiwanese passport holders from entering or transiting through the country. Somalia said it is following the “one China” principle based on UN Resolution 2758. The ministry said that Somalia is misinterpreting the resolution under China’s instigation, creating a false impression that Taiwan is subordinate to China. The Somali Civil Aviation Authority told airlines on Tuesday last week that starting today, any passengers with passports or travel documents issued from Taiwan or its affiliated institutions would not be allowed to enter or transit through Somalia. The decision comes as Taiwan is boosting