Ministry of Education
Taipei, Taiwan
Minister Wu Ching-ji
cc: The Control Yuan
The Prime Minister
NCKU President Lai Ming-Chiao
NCKU Secretary General
Taiwan Department of Higher Education
Taiwan Foundation for Democracy
Taiwan Association for Human Rights
The Humanistic Education Foundation
Scholars at Risk
California State University
Southern Illinois University
Case Western Reserve University
Purdue University
Taiwan Association of University Professors
The Taipei Times
The China Post
The China Times
The Taiwan News
26 August 2010
Dear Minister Wu,
I am requesting that National Cheng Kung University president, Dr. Michael Ming-Chiao Lai, insure enforcement of human rights principles at National Cheng Kung University, in Tainan, Taiwan.
Taiwan's Chief Executive, President Ma Ying-jeou has repeatedly affirmed support for human rights principles, and Taiwan's Legislative Yuan on March 31, 2009 ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. These ratifications seemed to endorse Taiwan's allegiance with the international community on the issue of human rights as well as its reciprocity with academic institutions in advanced democracies.
No academic institution that refuses to enforce human rights can credibly represent or collaborate with the international academic community. Not only is this an issue of human rights but of academic integrity as well, because if a university does not enforce human rights there is no guarantee it can insure academic standards or principles either. On what other basis can there be academic exchanges?
Academic relationships must be principled, not merely monetary, exchanges. No Taiwan university should, with impunity, be allowed to insult an American professor, deprive him of his rights, and then refuse to insure remedy once those rights are violated or, indeed, even acknowledge that his rights were violated.
But the facts are plain and fully documented. National Cheng Kung University grievously violated my human rights in its illegal dismissal in 1999; its circulation of a secret letter against me that same year; its subsequent defiance for nearly two and a half years of a Ministry ruling in my favor in January 2001; and its long-standing policy of refusing to compensate me for losses incurred during my dismissal ordeal and subsequent litigation, apologize for its violations, or even acknowledge that violations were committed in the first place. This is unacceptable, at least by international standards of countries that observe human rights principles and, presumably, by the human rights protections guaranteed in the human rights covenants that Taiwan recently signed.
According to Taiwan's government web site, "Conscious of its responsibilities, the ROC government is dedicated to safeguarding human rights and putting an end to all manner of social injustice and abuse of power. The people and government of the ROC fully share the universal value of upholding human rights and are determined to be a shining example of human rights protection."
In this case, as in others, actions speak louder than words.
Sincerely,
Richard de Canio
Associate Professor
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature
National Cheng Kung University
(August 1988 - July 2010)
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