Accusing the Ministry of Education of cronyism, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday called on the ministry to uphold university autonomy and ratify the election of National Taiwan University (NTU) president-elect Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔).
Kuan was elected the university’s president on Jan. 5 and was to assume office on Feb. 1, but the ministry deferred ratification, citing three points of contention: Kuan allegedly withheld from the committee that he was then an independent member of Taiwan Mobile’s board of directors; alleged problems with the fairness of the election committee’s procedures; and questions about the legality of Kuan’s teaching position at Xiamen University.
KMT Legislator Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said it was ironic that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which often claims that university autonomy prevents Chinese poaching of senior Taiwanese academics, is trying to block a legally elected university president from taking office.
Administrative efficiency under the DPP administration is best seen in the persecution of others, Lee said, adding that the ministry is willfully ignoring its job to oversee professional education and the development of higher education in the nation in favor of being a government hit man.
Multiple university affairs conferences have clearly backed Kuan’s election, Lee said, adding that the ministry should ratify his election and uphold university autonomy.
KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) said that a planned ministry task force had no legal basis under the University Act (大學法).
If established, the legally baseless task force would be in a position to counsel the ministry on decisions regarding the issue, Ko said, adding that such actions would be tantamount to the government trampling on the university’s autonomy.
Ministry Department of Personnel Director Chen Kun-yuan (陳焜元) said that a cross-agency task force on Kuan’s election was necessary, as the matter has exceeded the ministry’s jurisdiction.
In addition to information indicating that Kuan continues to teach at Xiamen University, Kuan has visited China in an official capacity while working for the government, Chen said.
The department has asked the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of the Interior to assist in an assessment of the issue, Chen added.
The Ministry of Education is obligated to oversee — within reason and the law — university president elections, despite university autonomy, as stipulated by the act, Chen said.
There can be no gray area in terms of legality of the NTU president, which is a position that oversees great public interest and presides over billions of New Taiwan dollars in subsidies and grants per year, Chen said.
Should it be determined that Kuan contravened 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) or the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), his election would be returned to the NTU election committee, Chen said.
In such a scenario, Kuan’s eligibility to lead the university must be reconsidered, as it remains unclear whether society would accept an NTU president with a history of severe legal breaches, Chen said.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS