[Fwd: Regarding human rights abuses at a Taiwan university]

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	Regarding human rights abuses at a Taiwan university
Date:	Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:58:16 +0800
From:	rdca25@gmail.com
To:	crnelson@illinois.edu
References:	<4A5E870C.1080001@gmail.com> <001c01ca05de$34a5f350$6822748c@pjP>

Dr. Cary Nelson
President,
American Association of University Professors

2 October 2009

Dear President Nelson,

.
    I have had long-standing problems regarding human rights abuses at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan, Taiwan. In 2001, Taiwan's Ministry of Education canceled my illegal dismissal (1999-2000), boldfacing human rights violations. Instead of reinstating me, NCKU argued foreigners had no right to appeal, even though the university held appeal hearings and attended Ministry hearings!
    After defying Ministry of Eduction directives for more than two years, the university finally reinstated me in 2003, but without formal redress. NCKU currently has many academic exchanges with US universities. But as a professor and American citizen, I do not believe disregard for human rights should be a basis for academic exchanges with a university in a democratic country, especially my own.
    Currently several high-ranking NCKU officials are American citizens or have benefited from American democratic values. They have ignored my petitions to formally resolve this case with apologies, penalties, and compensation according to internationally recognized principles of law.
    Our universities should not maintain academic exchanges with a university that flagrantly violates human rights and scorns human rights principles. Academic exchanges should entail some degree of reciprocity.
    If, as was stated on the Purdue University news page, NCKU "is one of the most outstanding universities in Asia, if not the world," one must question if human rights are relevant in this assessment, or if human rights are relevant at all.
    The current president, Dr. Michael M. C. Lai, hasn't even responded to several requests to discuss this issue. Apart from not honoring an appeal the university itself participated in, the fact that NCKU would try to enforce discriminatory practices against foreign faculty should concern American faculty in the US. Under the circumstances, I wish you can inform me what my options are, since there is no juridical leverage in Taiwan.
    Taiwan's courts seem to take away with one hand the rights they give with the other. It reminds me of a line from a Shakespeare play, "I can call the dead too, but will they come?" Yes, you can sue officials in Taiwan, but will you win?
   For example, the courts imposed no penalties on university officials, though the violations were egregious, willful, and defiant. Other court cases were a waste of time and money.
    In my suit against a student who wrote a secret accusatory letter, the court ruled it was not libel since no one outside the university read it! Yet the student's letter was secretly circulated at appeal and review hearings! According to most libel laws, a third party is sufficient to constitute libel!
    Similarly, my suit against Review Committee members who made unproved accusations was dismissed on the basis the accusations were not circulated outside the department!
    Another court ruled against compensatory damages (travel costs incurred to renew my visas), insisting there was no need for me to have stayed in Taiwan! But when an American left Taiwan during a child custody dispute, the court ruled that by leaving Taiwan the father proved he had no interest in the child and awarded custody to the mother!
    In other words, "Heads I win, tails you lose." I won the contract case presumably because the court had to uphold a Ministry ruling or risk an international scandal. But the wonder is it accepted the university's case at all, based on no acceptable legal principle. Still, the court imposed no punitive damages on the university and awarded no compensatory damages to me.
    Such rulings increase the risk among foreign faculty in Taiwan, who are less likely to fight for their rights. I believe a US court would have imposed millions of dollars in punitive damages on a university that behaved with such willful defiance as this university has (see attachments).
    Taiwan English-language newspapers, which preach independence "in the name of democracy" have ignored my letters as have Taiwan human rights groups. Meanwhile, Chinese-American academics seem indifferent to democratic principles once they become local officials.
    I'm not sure what can be done abroad. But these issues should concern human rights activists, universities, and faculty abroad. American universities should not maintain academic exchanges with a university that flagrantly violates human rights and scorns human rights principles. Academic exchanges should not be construed merely as economic exchanges but should be based on human rights principles, not to mention principles of reciprocity.
    I write not only as a victim of human rights abuses in Taiwan but on behalf of all Americans who teach here who may have been, or will be, subject to similar abuses without redress.
    Under the circumstances, I can only hope for assistance, or at least advice, from American professors abroad. For example, does an American citizen have legal leverage to request that an American university suspend academic exchanges with a foreign univesity that has been proved to have violated human rights? (Please see attachments.)
    I appreciate whatever assistance or advice you give. My main goal is to effect just closure in this case, based on principles of international human rights laws.

    Sincerely,

    Richard de Canio
    Department of Foreign Languages and Literature
    National Cheng Kung University

Letters from Taiwan's Ministry of Education to National Cheng Kung University's President
Regarding Enforcement of an Appeal Ruling

These are English translations of eight letters from the Ministry of Education to National Cheng Kung University concerning my illegal dismissal and the university's refusal to abide by a legal Ministry ruling, even though the university participated in appeal hearings and only challenged my right to appeal after the ruling favored me. It even filed a lawsuit to challenge the Ministry's ruling, then used the court case to try to further delay issuing the contracts!
(The translations are by a member of the NCKU Faculty Union. Chinese copies are attached in JPEG and PDF formats. Below are paraphrases. In any version, the unprincipled conduct of National Cheng Kung University is evident.)

    1. April 6, 2001: "The university should make lawful remedy within a month."
    2. May 11, 2001 "The university should first revive the contract with Mr. De Canio, which is the proper remedy."
    3. June 14, 2001 "If there is no practical revival of the contract, the decision of the MOE Appeals Committee is equivalent to vain words. Procedural justice should be upheld first. The university should not use the results of its previous improper procedures as an excuse to delay reinstating the professor."
    4. August 7, 2001 "If the university willfully delays so as to damage the teacher’s rights, the university must bear complete responsibility."
    5. May 3, 2002 "The university should first revive the contract with Mr. De Canio starting from August 1, 1999, and compensate his salary. There is no need to wait for the court verdict."
    6. October 15, 2002 "The university should immediately process the application of contract extension permit."
    7. December 2, 2002 "The university’s request to wait for the court verdict is denied. Revive the contract with Mr. De Canio and compensate his salary as soon as possible."
    8. January 17, 2003 "Do as described in the letter of December 2, 2002."