To: Minister of Education,
Dr. Ovid Tzeng
From: Professor Richard de Canio
Dear Sir,
I am including a copy of a letter recently sent and circulated to several
parties, including the Vice-President of Taiwan.
Please understand, I have run out of patience in the resolution of this
case. The case to me seems very simple. The Ministry has issued a ruling;
that ruling must be enforced. To the extent to which that ruling is not
enforced, or delayed, is the extent to which there is no law in any
practical or legal sense of that word.
Try to understand. I have been patient enough. Yet for more than two
years, I have been held , in effect, as a political hostage in Taiwan,
without health care, and unable to live a normal life, for two years.
Meanwhile, presumably a private university lawyer is able to dictate legal
principles and legal policy to a governmental Ministry. How is this
possible?
It seems to me clear what a Ministry must do in a case like this. Its first
and only obligation is to defend the law and its execution. The president
of National Cheng Kung University, along with his legal advisers, is in
defiance of a legal ruling of the Ministry of Education.
In a democracy, as soon as an official defies a legal judgment from a
superior agency, legal action is taken against those parties involved. This
involves dismissal and criminal prosecution. I see no alternative in this
case.
Unless I am informed of a resolution in this case no later than the middle
of this week, including issuance of my contract and full monetary
compensation, I shall seek advocacy and redress outside of Taiwan.
Respectfully,
Showing posts with label Ovid Tzeng. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ovid Tzeng. Show all posts
Monday, August 2, 2010
Letter to Taiwan Ministry of Education
To: The Minister of Education,
Dr. OVID TZENG
Dear Minister Tzeng,
This FAX is a reminder of the responsibilities of the Ministry of
Education regarding the case of Professor Richard de Canio's appeal
against his dismissal from National Cheng Kung University in June of
1999.
I will not go over this case again, because the issues are by now well
known.
I will remind the Ministry, however, that I won no fewer than TWO
appeals, one at the University appeal level in December of 1999 and
another one at the Ministry level in early 2001. Yet both appeal
victories have been ignored by National Cheng Kung University.
I respectfully remind the Ministry that National Cheng Kung University
is in defiance of these rulings; in defiance of Taiwan laws; in defiance
of the Ministry's repeated warnings to issue the contract; and, finally,
in defiance of universal principles of morality, honesty, and fair
play.
Even apart from the Law, sacred as the law is, where in the world would
a university show such scorn for moral values that it would claim that
when a person wins an appeal he merely wins the right to appeal again?
What if American universities treated Taiwan professors and students in
the same way, based on the principle of reciprocity so valued in Chinese
culture?
I think both the moral and legal issues are plain here. Yet none of the
officials in authority at National Cheng Kung University have yet been
punished; nor, in fact, do they seem to be concerned about legal
consequences over their failure to observe legal rulings, despite
pressure from both the Ministry and now the Control Yuan.
I, as a foreinger, do not understand how such a defiance of the law and
legal rulings is possible if Taiwan is an "advanced democracy." I do
know that Taiwan professors are protected by laws in my country; and
that protection involves a hierarchy of legal authority that is
routine. In very rare cases where a legal ruling is defied by American
officials, such as the famous Elian Gonzalez Cuban custody case, the
government used armed force to enforce the law. Because a democracy is
a government of laws; and those laws should be executed at any cost.
Now in the Elian Gonzalez case, the government delayed a little,
understandably; because the welfare of a child was at stake. However,
this case, in Taiwan, at National Cheng Kung University, involves no
child held hostage.
Why then does the Ministry allow National Cheng Kung University
officials to defy the law in this way?
A Ministry represents the most visible face of the law in its division
of government (Education, Justice, etc.). To undermine confidence in
that Ministry's ability to effect its own legal rulings is to undermine
confidence in the law itself.
Officials at National Cheng Kung University, beginning with Professor
Kao Chiang, should not be allowed to defy the law in this public
manner. Nor should an individual be denied justice according to the law
established in a democracy, whether he is a foreigner or not. I won an
appeal according to established principles of an appeal process and this
case should have been resolved a long time ago. In other words, I
should have received my teaching contract, back pay, and all related
compensation regarding trips abroad during the adjudication of this
case.
Yet I have yet to receive any practical benefits in my legal victory.
In the meantime, I have had to live on borrowed savings and without
health insurance.
Please understand, my patience has worn out. We seem to be going around
in circles to no end. Instead, I have suffered endless humiliation from
university officials, who, in defiance of legal rulings, Minsitry
warnings, my own cautionary letters, and universal principles of
morality and justice, continue to empanel committees to "review" me.
This travesty of justice must stop. To say that there are laws in
Taiwan but that those laws cannot be enforced is really to say there are
no laws in Taiwan.
Please observe the principle of reciprocity here. Taiwan citizens are
protected by American laws in America; I wish to be protected by Taiwan
laws in Taiwan. To the extent to which this is not realized in
practice, is the extent to which the principle of reciprocity, as well
as law, has been violated. I respectfully ask you to understand that the
friendship between two countries involves responsibilities to foreign
citizens as well as rights claimed by one's own citizens in foreign
countries.
Sincerely,
Professor Richard de Canio
Tainan, Taiwan
(06) 237 862
Dr. OVID TZENG
Dear Minister Tzeng,
This FAX is a reminder of the responsibilities of the Ministry of
Education regarding the case of Professor Richard de Canio's appeal
against his dismissal from National Cheng Kung University in June of
1999.
I will not go over this case again, because the issues are by now well
known.
I will remind the Ministry, however, that I won no fewer than TWO
appeals, one at the University appeal level in December of 1999 and
another one at the Ministry level in early 2001. Yet both appeal
victories have been ignored by National Cheng Kung University.
I respectfully remind the Ministry that National Cheng Kung University
is in defiance of these rulings; in defiance of Taiwan laws; in defiance
of the Ministry's repeated warnings to issue the contract; and, finally,
in defiance of universal principles of morality, honesty, and fair
play.
Even apart from the Law, sacred as the law is, where in the world would
a university show such scorn for moral values that it would claim that
when a person wins an appeal he merely wins the right to appeal again?
What if American universities treated Taiwan professors and students in
the same way, based on the principle of reciprocity so valued in Chinese
culture?
I think both the moral and legal issues are plain here. Yet none of the
officials in authority at National Cheng Kung University have yet been
punished; nor, in fact, do they seem to be concerned about legal
consequences over their failure to observe legal rulings, despite
pressure from both the Ministry and now the Control Yuan.
I, as a foreinger, do not understand how such a defiance of the law and
legal rulings is possible if Taiwan is an "advanced democracy." I do
know that Taiwan professors are protected by laws in my country; and
that protection involves a hierarchy of legal authority that is
routine. In very rare cases where a legal ruling is defied by American
officials, such as the famous Elian Gonzalez Cuban custody case, the
government used armed force to enforce the law. Because a democracy is
a government of laws; and those laws should be executed at any cost.
Now in the Elian Gonzalez case, the government delayed a little,
understandably; because the welfare of a child was at stake. However,
this case, in Taiwan, at National Cheng Kung University, involves no
child held hostage.
Why then does the Ministry allow National Cheng Kung University
officials to defy the law in this way?
A Ministry represents the most visible face of the law in its division
of government (Education, Justice, etc.). To undermine confidence in
that Ministry's ability to effect its own legal rulings is to undermine
confidence in the law itself.
Officials at National Cheng Kung University, beginning with Professor
Kao Chiang, should not be allowed to defy the law in this public
manner. Nor should an individual be denied justice according to the law
established in a democracy, whether he is a foreigner or not. I won an
appeal according to established principles of an appeal process and this
case should have been resolved a long time ago. In other words, I
should have received my teaching contract, back pay, and all related
compensation regarding trips abroad during the adjudication of this
case.
Yet I have yet to receive any practical benefits in my legal victory.
In the meantime, I have had to live on borrowed savings and without
health insurance.
Please understand, my patience has worn out. We seem to be going around
in circles to no end. Instead, I have suffered endless humiliation from
university officials, who, in defiance of legal rulings, Minsitry
warnings, my own cautionary letters, and universal principles of
morality and justice, continue to empanel committees to "review" me.
This travesty of justice must stop. To say that there are laws in
Taiwan but that those laws cannot be enforced is really to say there are
no laws in Taiwan.
Please observe the principle of reciprocity here. Taiwan citizens are
protected by American laws in America; I wish to be protected by Taiwan
laws in Taiwan. To the extent to which this is not realized in
practice, is the extent to which the principle of reciprocity, as well
as law, has been violated. I respectfully ask you to understand that the
friendship between two countries involves responsibilities to foreign
citizens as well as rights claimed by one's own citizens in foreign
countries.
Sincerely,
Professor Richard de Canio
Tainan, Taiwan
(06) 237 862
Letter to Taiwan Ministry of Education
To: The Minister of Education
Dr. Ovid Tzeng
CC: SCHOLARS AT RISK
Dear Minister Tzeng,
I would like to remind you once again that early this year I won a
Ministry appeal ruling against my dismissal at National Cheng Kung
University in Tainan. I remind you again that National Cheng Kung
University is in defiance of this ruling. It is reasonable to assume
that, in any other democracy in the world, a university president in
defiance of a Ministry ruling would be summarily removed from office.
I remind you that, as Minister of Education, you must enforce laws
according to the rulings of your own Ministry and in accordance with
Taiwan laws. It is not the burden of an individual to enforce laws for
the Ministry of Education. The individual lacks both the authority and
the resources to do so. I remind you that elsewhere in the world, such
as in my own country, America, government officials enforce laws to
protect individuals, whether those individuals are American citizens or
foreign, such as Taiwan, citizens.
Sincerely,
Professor Richard de Canio
National Cheng Kung University
Dr. Ovid Tzeng
CC: SCHOLARS AT RISK
Dear Minister Tzeng,
I would like to remind you once again that early this year I won a
Ministry appeal ruling against my dismissal at National Cheng Kung
University in Tainan. I remind you again that National Cheng Kung
University is in defiance of this ruling. It is reasonable to assume
that, in any other democracy in the world, a university president in
defiance of a Ministry ruling would be summarily removed from office.
I remind you that, as Minister of Education, you must enforce laws
according to the rulings of your own Ministry and in accordance with
Taiwan laws. It is not the burden of an individual to enforce laws for
the Ministry of Education. The individual lacks both the authority and
the resources to do so. I remind you that elsewhere in the world, such
as in my own country, America, government officials enforce laws to
protect individuals, whether those individuals are American citizens or
foreign, such as Taiwan, citizens.
Sincerely,
Professor Richard de Canio
National Cheng Kung University
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