Letter to Taiwan Ministry of Education

5/22/2002 11:41 PM
Subject: FAX: 8:37 a.m.

Ministry of Education
Dr. Huang J.T.,
Minister of Education

22 May 2002

Dear Minister Huang,

There has been an on-going problem with the issuance of my teaching contract
at National
Cheng Kung University, in Tainan, since the Ministry of Education appeal
ruling in my favor
in early 2001. I have yet to receive my contract or back pay.
As Minister of Education you must know that you are obligated to
enforce national laws
and rulings on behalf of your agency. My contract must be issued and back
pay awarded, as
well as other compensation. The Ministry of Education, the highest
education agency in
Taiwan, is obligated, by law, to protect or insure both my rights and my
compensation under
law, no less than Taiwan citizens are protected in America or in other
lawful nations.
Please, once again, understand the issues involved here.
1. University officials engaged in countless legal violations to
effect my dismissal (they
have never been punished for this);
2. They defied the Teacher's Law and its protections in doing so;
3. They have been, since early 2001, in defiance of the Ministry of
Education appeal
ruling that cancelled my dismissal;
4. National Cheng Kung University officials continue to ignore
Ministry of Education
warnings to issue the contract;
5. In defiance of law and common sense, university officials started a
legal action against
me to challenge the Ministry of Education ruling, a lawsuit that was not
interdicted, as it
should have been, by the Ministry of Education, although it is in defiance
of the Ministry's
ruling that cancelled my dismissal. (How is it possible, without penalty,
for a university
under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education to use tax-paid money
and institutional
resources to file a lawsuit in defiance of the Ministry's own ruling?)
6. Finally, in contempt of universal principles of morality, although
the university never
questioned or challenged my right to appeal before the Ministry ruling in my
favor, it now
claims I have no right to appeal. How can university officials claim I have
no right to appeal
a case that has already been appealed?
Do you see, Minister Huang, that this is a public scandal in the
making that could destroy the
international reputation of all Taiwan universities and, indeed, make Taiwan
a laughing stock
of any part of the world that believes in lawful government?
If nothing else, citizens both here and abroad will wonder, if the
Ministry of Education
can't control a university under its jurisdiction in a high-profile and
high-definition case like
this (where the legal issues are so clear), how can it control universities
in less public
matters such as academic standards, grading, and departmental promotions?
Not only
National Cheng Kung University, but all of Taiwan universities will fall
under the umbrella
of suspicion and the international exchange value of Taiwan degrees will be
almost
worthless.
In addition, as I have said, there is the issue of reciprocity. The
Ministry of Education is
obligated, under local law and respect for international exchanges, to
protect foreign faculty
here to the same degree that Taiwan faculty are protected in other lawful
nations.
Yet National Cheng Kung University has a history of abusing the rights
of foreign
nationals, while, in my experience and to my knowledge, the Ministry of
Education has a
history of doing nothing to effect justice, enforce penalties, assess
damages, and issue
compensation in these cases. In several cases, the victims of this abuse
have simply left the
university, never to be heard from again.
Clearly, if Taiwan has a lawful government it must enforce the laws.
And it must,
according to law, protect citizens, whether nationals from Taiwan or
elsewhere. If officials
rebel against this enforcement, they must be dismissed.
The claim of university officials that they are really following laws,
according to their
understanding, must stop. No officials can nullify a lawful ruling by a
quirk of understanding,
or interpretation. In a lawful society, only the judiciary is authorized to
interpret laws, based
on constitutional principles. Moreover, legal principles favor the Ministry
ruling, not the
challenge to the ruling. For the university is denying a fact (my right to
appeal) that they
accepted during the appeal. The university's position is not consistent
with the law, but with
a defiance of the law that has by now become routine at National Cheng Kung
University.
Indeed, I think it is clear by now that National Cheng Kung University
has shown a
repeated pattern of legal violations (indeed, a contempt for law) that
warrants it be placed
under Ministry trusteeship until legal observance becomes routine. In the
meantime, officials
involved in defying the Ministry ruling must be dismissed, new officials
should be appointed
to replace them, and the contract and related compensation issued.
Please be advised, I will never surrender my legal rights in Taiwan, no
more than you
would expect a Taiwan national to surrender his legal rights in America or
in other lawful
nations. If necessary, I am prepared to make whatever international appeals
necessary,
including publication of all related documents, to effect final justice in
this case.
In having an appeal process at all, the Ministry has also insured,
according to the law, the
enforcement of its ruling. Delay in the enforcement of its ruling is
shameful enough. And, in
so delaying, the Ministry has undermined confidence in Taiwan as a lawful
nation. To delay
further will discredit all of Taiwan's educational institutions and
ultimately disgrace the
national government.

Sincerely,

Professor Richard de Canio.
(06) 237 8626