National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Chen Ming-tong (陳明通), former Hsinchu mayor Lin Chih-chien’s (林智堅) thesis adviser, would not teach at National Taiwan University (NTU) in the coming academic year, the university said yesterday.
The announcement came hours after local Chinese-language media reported that Chen’s profile had been pulled from the faculty information page of the university’s Graduate Institute of National Development Web site, leading to speculation that he had resigned.
Chen was taken off the faculty list after he requested no teaching responsibilities be given to him this year due to rising tensions with China, which leaves him with little time outside of his duties at the bureau, the university said.
Photo: CNA
He remains a professor at the school and no resignation has been offered or accepted, the university said, citing rules governing public school educators.
Chen has been embroiled in allegations that Lin in 2017 plagiarized his master’s thesis from the thesis of another student, Yu Cheng-huang (余正煌), which was published the previous year. Chen at the time served as adviser for both students.
The two papers were found to have used identical data sets and similar methodology, and contained identical typographical errors in analyzing the 2014 Hsinchu mayoral election, which Lin had won.
Chen defended the former mayor, saying that Lin was the original author and Yu had read a draft of Lin’s study before writing his own paper.
However, the NTU academic ethics committee on Wednesday last week ruled against Lin on grounds that his paper was more than 40 percent similar to Yu’s and that Lin did not provide a draft of his thesis predating Yu’s study.
The committee recommend revoking Lin’s degree and announced the launch of an investigation into Chen for possible failure in his responsibilities as adviser.
Two days later, Lin bowed out of the Taoyuan mayoral race.
OFFLINE: People who do not wish to register can get the money from select ATMs using their bank card, ID number and National Health Insurance card number Online registration for NT$6,000 (US$196.32) cash payments drawn from last year’s tax surplus is to open today for eligible people whose national ID or permanent residency number ends in either a zero or a one, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. Officials from the ministry revealed which days Taiwanese and eligible foreigners would be able to register for the cash payments at a joint news conference with the Ministry of Digital Affairs. Online registration is to open tomorrow for those whose number ends in a two or three; on Friday for those that end in a four or five: on Saturday
TECH PROGRAM: A US official said that an important part of the delegation’s trip would be to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co executives The US is to send officials in charge of chip development to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea to promote cooperation in the global semiconductor supply chain, the US Department of Commerce said on Tuesday. Chips Program Office Director Michael Schmidt announced the visit, which marks the first time officials from the office are to visit the three nations since it was set up in September last year. “As semiconductors and technologies continue to evolve, the United States will keep working with allies and partners to develop coordinated strategies to ensure that malign actors cannot use the latest technologies to undermine our collective
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials are investigating why a Starlux Airlines flight to Penang, Malaysia, returned to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport nearly two hours after takeoff yesterday morning. The airline said in a statement that Flight JX721 to Penang took off from Taoyuan airport at 9:20am. “After the dashboard showed a signal of an abnormality in the hydraulic system, the captain followed standard operating procedures and returned the flight to Taoyuan airport for safety precautions,” the airline said, adding that the flight landed safely at the airport at 11:04am. The airline arranged for the passengers to have lunch after the flight landed and
WORKING UP AN APPETITE: Sales at the Rueifong Night Market surged 20 to 30 percent, while seats at Liouhe Night Market were packed until 1am, market officials said South Korean pop band Blackpink’s concerts over the weekend in Kaohsiung helped draw large crowds to local night markets, the Kaohsiung City Government said yesterday. The two concerts on Saturday and Sunday at Kaohsiung National Stadium drew more than 90,000 people. The city government offered NT$50 vouchers to spend locally to concertgoers who showed their ticket stubs. Liouhe Night Market (六合夜市) management committee head Chuang Chi-chang (莊其章) said that crowds over the weekend surged at about 10pm and the market remained packed until 1:30am. “Almost all the seats were filled,” Chuang said. Night market stall owners had stocked up in expectation of an increased number