The Control Yuan yesterday asked the Judicial Yuan’s Disciplinary Court to retry former Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey’s (翁啟惠) case after the court reprimanded Wong for not fully disclosing his assets and failing to recuse himself in a matter that could have led to a conflict of interest.
Wong, accused of having made illicit gains by purchasing OBI Pharma stock, was acquitted by the Shilin District Court in December 2018.
However, he was impeached by the Disciplinary Court in 2017 for not fully disclosing his assets during an asset report, a decision he has already appealed twice.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The March 8 amendment of Article 14-1 of the Enforcement Rules of the Control Act (監察法施行細則) gave Wong reason to launch another appeal.
“Should the [Disciplinary Court] find that there are grounds to reinvestigate a case, it should dispatch, or alternate between, two members of the former court presiding over the case to head the reinvestigation,” Article 14-1 states.
Wong is an internationally acclaimed academic and his reputation should not be impugned, Control Yuan members said yesterday, adding that he would not be the only individual to benefit from Article 14-1.
Freedom to conduct research is a constitutionally guaranteed right, and Academia Sinica, as the highest institution for independent research in the country, should have its research protected, they said.
The members called on the court to respect Academia Sinica’s decision regarding allegations that Wong had not recused himself from acts that might have caused a conflict of interest.
The Academia Sinica Principles on Handling Conflict of Interest (中央研究院科技移轉利益衝突迴避處理原則) as they stood on Aug. 14, 2012, did not make a distinction between the position a person held as an administrator or as an academic, they said.
There was no correlation between Wong as the creator of the technology being transferred, and Wong the institute’s highest-level administrator, the members said, adding that he had followed the rules and filled out the form declaring the possibility of a conflict of interest.
The regulations as they stood in 2012 did not state that the technology’s creator could not become a stock owner, the members said, adding that Academia Sinica’s opaque regulations on conflicts of interest should not carry over to an individual who had followed rules.
The Control Yuan’s investigation has found that, based on new evidence and facts, the original basis for the court reprimanding Wong was no longer valid, the members said.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and