Academia Sinica member Wu Maw-kuen (吳茂昆) has been appointed minister of education, Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) announced yesterday.
Hsu praised Wu, who is scheduled to take office on Thursday, for his distinguished contributions and experience in the areas of higher education and scientific research, saying he is “very suitable to serve as education minister.”
The physicist was named to take over the post left vacant by Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠), who resigned last week over a controversy surrounding his alleged interference in the appointment of National Taiwan University (NTU) president-elect Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔).
Premier William Lai (賴清德) approved Pan’s resignation on Saturday.
Lai the next day said that the role of the education minister carries heavy responsibility, and that whoever takes over the position is tasked with far more duties than simply resolving the NTU predicament.
Wu, 68, has a doctorate in physics from the University of Houston and has served as head of the now-defunct National Science Council, at the Institute of Physics at the Academia Sinica and at National Dong Hwa University in Hualien County.
The National Science Council was in 2014 upgraded to the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Pan drew public criticism over his refusal to approve the appointment of Kuan, who was on Jan. 5 elected to succeed Yang Pan-chyr (楊泮池), whose tenure as NTU president ended in June last year.
However, Kuan has since been accused of plagiarism and a conflict of interest, which has cast doubt on the legitimacy of his election and prevented him from taking office on Feb. 1 as scheduled.
Last month, more allegations surfaced accusing Kuan of having illegally taught in China since 2005.
Although the accusations were later resolved, Pan continued to ask Kuan to answer the allegations.
Due to the delay in approving Kuan’s appointment, the education ministry was accused of interfering in NTU’s autonomy.
A group of NTU professors, students and alumni on Thursday last week jointly filed a complaint with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office accusing Pan of nonfeasance.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
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Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
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