Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who is also Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman, yesterday said that TPP Legislator Tsai Pi-ru’s (蔡壁如) resignation on Friday would not affect the party’s election campaigns.
Takming University of Science and Technology on Thursday revoked Tsai’s master’s degree after its research ethics committee determined that her thesis included plagiarized material.
Tsai on Friday announced her resignation on Facebook, with the title “in pursuit of Taiwan’s justice and innocence.”
Photo: CNA
She resigned to be politically and publicly responsible, not because there are flaws in her thesis, Tsai wrote.
She said she would ask the university to respond with a report detailing the specific flaws in her thesis, and would appeal the case to the Ministry of Education, Tsai wrote.
Ko said that he has known Tsai for 30 years and she is “a diligent and responsible person who has guts.”
Her resignation is unlikely to affect the TPP’s election campaigns, as it was dealt with swiftly and responsibly, he said.
The party’s members are young and well-educated, rational intellectuals, he added.
The TPP, including Ko and Tsai, had strongly criticized former Hsinchu mayor Lin Chih-chien (林智堅), who was running for Taoyuan mayor as a Democratic Progressive Party candidate when he was accused of plagiarism, which led to his exit from the race during the summer.
There was speculation that Tsai was forced to resign by TPP members to prevent accusations of hypocrisy.
Ko said that Tsai received an e-mail from the university on Thursday informing her that her master’s degree had been revoked, and he met with her in the evening to clarify the situation.
Tsai had asked if she should resign immediately, but he told her that she should wait until she receives a review, Ko said, adding that even after contacting the university, Tsai had not received a review by Friday evening.
Ko said that in a telephone call with Tsai that evening, he told her: “If the review is not out yet, you can stop the bleeding by resigning and seek relief later.”
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
RSS