Universities' alliance to fight ‘political interference’

More than a dozen universities in Taiwan have set up a new alliance for university autonomy to counter what they see as ‘political interference’ in universities in the wake of the ongoing saga of the appointment of a new president for National Taiwan University (NTU).

Without academic freedom and institutional autonomy Taiwan would not be able to attract foreign talent, according to a former NTU president Lee Si-Chen who is leading the 14-member Taiwan Action Alliance for University Autonomy, inaugurated on 6 July.

The alliance calls for tolerance and respect, and justice and honesty to safeguard university independence against political manipulation, according to Lee.

“Gravely concerned about the future of our education system and our rights to university autonomy and academic freedom … (we) have decided to join forces to defend our rights to university autonomy and academic freedom in Taiwan,” the alliance, backed by hundreds of university faculty members, said in a statement.

“We strive to stand up against government intervention and political repression in our campuses,” the statement said.

The alliance grew out of the ongoing debacle over the selection of a new president for NTU, which has become embroiled in a political row after two successive ministers of education failed to approve the NTU president-designate Kuan Chung-ming over allegations of a conflict of interest on the NTU selection committee, and separate claims of plagiarism by Kuan. The row has deeply split NTU.

Among the demands put forward by the new alliance is that the Ministry of Education should respect the university process to select Kuan, which they said was “conducted in accordance with rules and regulations”.

Kuan was elected in early January by an NTU committee and was to take up his post on 1 February. However, two ministers of education resigned in quick succession over the issue, declining to confirm Kuan in the post. Taiwan has been without an education minister since late May.

“No one dares” serve as education minister because of the NTU debacle, Lee said, noting that both the office of NTU president as well as the education ministry are operating without leadership.

In April the Association of National Universities of Taiwan, which includes some 50 state universities, said an overwhelming majority of their members believed the government should not be involved in the selection of university leadership. It cited Supreme Court interpretations of Taiwan’s constitution, which recommends university autonomy and limited government oversight of internal university matters.

Rallying call to support Kuan

But some see the new alliance as a bid by Kuan supporters at NTU to gain wider support from other higher education institutions. “It is more a rallying call to support Kuan than a group that is passionate about academic freedom, though it could evolve into that, as I hear it will be registered as an NGO [non-governmental organisation],” said a faculty member of NTU who declined to be named, though he admitted he does not support the instatement of Kuan “due to irregularities”.

“There are still questions to be answered regarding conflict of interest on the university board,” he said, referring to conflict of interest allegations after it surfaced that Kuan had been an independent board member of the private company, Taiwan Mobile, whose vice-chairman and two other company executives sat on the NTU committee that selected him as university president.

One of the former education ministers, Wu Maw-Kuen, who held the post for just over a month from 15 April before resigning on 29 May after telling NTU to hold a new election for university president, is facing misconduct allegations of his own.

Wu was recently impeached after the audit body, the Control Yuan, initiated an investigation into allegations that he stole patents belonging to National Dong Hwa University and used them to start biotechnology company Spiranthes Biotech in California in 2015.

According to the Control Yuan, Wu violated Taiwan’s Public Functionary Service Act and other laws relating to conflicts of interest in public office, and may have profited from the alleged theft. Control Yuan member Tsai Chung-yi said while she supported the impeachment resolution, there was no evidence Wu profited from the theft.

Impeachment by the Control Yuan amounts to a formal statement of charges, and must be confirmed by the legislature before Wu can be removed from any posts.

Wu has denied all the allegations and said in April, when the allegations were publicised after he became education minister, that he had planned to return the patent rights to the university once the company obtained them in the United States and China, as it is common practice for inventors to apply for patents then negotiate with their university on revenue sharing.

The new alliance comprises NTU, Shih Chien University, National Taiwan Normal University, National Chengchi University, National Tsing Hua University, National Chiao Tung University, National Central University, National Chung Hsing University, National Chiayi University, National Cheng Kung University, National Taipei University of Business, National University of Kaohsiung, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, and National Dong Hwa University.