Ministry of Education
Taipei, Taiwan
15 August 2006
Dear Ministry,
I spoke to the Minister of Education secretary yesterday, asking why the
president of National Cheng Kung University, Kao Chiang, is allowed to
defy the law. Since the Ministry of Education ruling in my favor, dated
8 January 2001, Mr. Kao has engaged in countless acts that would be
called obstruction of justice in other democracies. Yet he has yet to be
punished and continues stubbornly to defy the law, most recently
ignoring another Ministry of Education ruling in my favor (July, 2006),
regarding the annual increments illegally denied me by the university
despite the Ministry rullng of 8 January 2001).
Why does the Ministry allow this defiance of law in Taiwan? Either
there's law in Taiwan or there isn't.
The appeal to a university's "autonomy" is wrong. All autonomy is
understood within the law. Parents have autonomy over their children
too, but only within the law.
A university has a certain autonomy within the law (scheduling
approved classes, giving grades, hiring and dismissal according to legal
review, etc.). But that doesn't mean a university has the right to defy
a Ministry ruling. Moreover, it's a Ministry hearing the university
never contested until it lost.
So we're not only talking about legal issues here, but moral issues
too. No university head should engage in foul play like this. By
participating in the university hearing, the university implicitly
accepted the right of the Ministry of Education to hold that hearing, as
well as all rights that follow, such as legal enforcement of that ruling.
But as soon as the Ministry favored me in 8 January 2001, Mr. Kao
began to obstruct the just enforcement of that ruling. He delayed for
more than two years. Then two officials appointed by him tried to extort
an unfair settlement, threatening to delay enforcement of the Ministry
ruling for many years in the courts. Finally, when forced to issue the
contracts more than two years after the Ministry ruling, university
committees spitefully held "hearings" to impose penalties against me,
resulting in the claim to deny me my annual increments for six years,
still in force, despite the illegality of the action and a recent (July
2006) Ministry ruling that upheld my challenge to the university's
decision. (A Faculty Union member recently phoned the university
personnel office who claimed the university would not comply with the
recent Ministry ruling!)
What's going on in Taiwan? We're not only talking law here, we're
talking moral decency. Many Taiwan citizens matriculate or teach in
America, guaranteed rights and dignity denied to American professors in
Taiwan.
In addition, National Cheng Kung University has academic exchanges
with American and British universities, presumably under "color of
democracy," when there's plainly no democracy at National Cheng Kung
University and evidently no enforcement by the Ministry of Education.
Even by Confucian priciples, this is a violation of the rule of
reciprocity: do not do to others what you do not wish others
to do to you.
Please understand, the Ministry of Education cannot claim to be
upholding laws, or even claim to be a Ministry, unless it enforces laws.
But what I understand is that being called "president" of a university
entitles that person to do anything he wants, with no risk of penalty.
To guarantee appeals but to fail to enforce appeal rulings
is worse than having no right to appeal, though it makes the university
look good when establishing academic exchanges or when faculty present
at international conferences.
Important as my rights are, consider larger issues too. No democracy
can establish itself at our university if faculty know that the Ministry
of Education will not impose penalties for official misconduct or even
enforce its own rulings. That's obviously why the university
adminsitration is fighting so hard to resist compliance, to discourage
other faculty in the future. But then what hope for democracy in the future?
But that's a matter for the Taiwan government to consider. I have
considerations of my own. Please understand I will never compromise on
my own rights. I intend
to receive the full benefits of the Ministry of Education rulling of 8
January 2001, including compensation and a formal university apology.
(The formal apology is now especially important since it's obvious the
university is pretending I lost the case, not the university.)
Although I was in a forgiving mood soon after the ruling of 8
January 2001, in view of the university's continued defiance, I expect
official penalties against
officials involved in misconduct and obstruction of justice that
involved severe hardship, including countless trips abroad to renew my
visa pending the enforcement of the Ministry ruling.
Please understand I will do whatever I must, within the law, to
effect a just resolution of this case according to facts presented above
and principles established by university laws, Ministry regulations,
Taiwan laws, and international human rights convenants signed by Taiwan.
Options include notifying the Western press, contacting National Cheng
Kung University's sister colleges in the US, and appealing to US lawmakers.
Sincerely,
Richard de Canio
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature
National Cheng Kung University
(06) 237 8626
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