The Ministry of Education is to order Yuan Ze University to open a new probe of allegations that two of its former professors leaked secrets while teaching illegally in China, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said yesterday.
Professors from the university have taught in China, sometimes illegally, including former university vice presidents Lin Chih-min (林志民) and Lee Chin-ting (李清庭), Chinese-language media reported.
The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) has provisions that bar researchers with knowledge of sensitive technology from teaching in China.
Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times
Lin, formerly a member of the Hsiung Feng II anti-ship missile research and development program, was accused of lecturing at China’s Xiamen University on subjects including missile interception, and automatic takeoff and landing systems in 2013 and afterward.
Lee, who had been involved in semiconductor research, was alleged to have taught at Xidian University from April 2016.
The ministry after receiving a tip had previously ordered the university to investigate the professors, but the probe went nowhere due to obstruction by Chinese officials, Pan told a post-meeting news conference at the Executive Yuan.
Following the latest reports implicating Yuan Ze University, ministry officials have ordered it to launch a new and more rigorous probe, he said, adding that the academics would be punished if the allegations are proven.
Discipline would be meted out by an “interdepartmental apparatus,” which the ministry has used in similar prior investigations, he said.
Personnel taking part in classified research are required to sign nondisclosure agreements as stipulated in the act and state regulations governing professors, he said.
The ministry is one of many government agencies charged with enforcing secrecy rules surrounding sensitive research conducted by Taiwanese academics, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said.
Infiltration by hostile external forces can jeopardize the technologies that are crucial to Taiwan’s development, Lo said.
Investigations are needed to establish the facts before legal decisions could be made, he said.
On Wednesday, Lin in a statement said that he had used published information to talk about artificial intelligence in China, but no classes were ever taught.
Separately, Lee said that he had never taught classes, advised students or received payments from Xidian, adding that his chair professorship was strictly an honorary title that came without obligations or remuneration.
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