Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) yesterday denied allegations that she had plagiarized her master’s thesis, adding that she would wait for a university research ethics committee to rule on the matter.
Former Taoyuan City councilor Wang Hao-yu (王浩宇) said on Facebook on Saturday that he had notified Takming University of Science and Technology that Tsai’s master’s thesis might contain plagiarized content.
Tsai obtained her degree from an in-service master’s program at the university’s Management Information System Department.
Photo: Tung Chen-kuo, Taipei Times
Wang posted screenshots of several paragraphs from Tsai’s thesis alongside text from sources — including news reports, Wikipedia posts and a Facebook post by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Chien Hsu-pei (簡舒培).
The university on Sunday said in a post on its Web site that it had received Wang’s report, and would conduct a fair and objective review.
Tsai in a radio interview yesterday said the paragraphs Wang shared were from the literature review section of her thesis and that she had cited the sources, so she is confident no plagiarism has occurred.
She has consulted her thesis adviser about the accusation, Tsai said, adding that the adviser said she had cited her sources, so at worst she might only be criticized for imprecise citation.
Asked by the radio host whether she would quit the legislature if the university committee determines that her thesis was plagiarized, Tsai said she would wait for the committee’s decision.
Separately, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Nantou County commissioner candidate Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) and Nantou County Council Speaker Ho Shang-feng (何勝豐) are also facing plagiarism allegations regarding their master’s theses.
Hsu yesterday wrote on Facebook that the DPP is trying to shift the focus after former Hsinchu mayor Lin Chih-chien’s (林智堅) master’s degree was revoked by National Taiwan University due to plagiarism.
She said that Feng Chia University, where she obtained her master’s degree, has launched a review and would complete the investigation in two months, adding that she would accept its decision.
Ho’s master’s degree also came under scrutiny, because the official election candidates’ information bulletin in 2014 showed that he only graduated from elementary school.
However, he received a master’s degree from Asia University’s Department of Bioinformatics and Medical Engineering in 2016. The content of his master’s thesis was similar to that of his secretary’s at the time and they had the same adviser.
Ho on Monday said he attended classes for two-and-a-half years, but it was impossible for him to complete the thesis on his own, so he referenced his classmates’ theses.
He would accept the decision if the university revokes his master’s degree, because he was elected as councilor and speaker for his services and has gained people’s recognition.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition