---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Richard John <rdca25@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 30, 2010 at 11:15 AM
Subject: Regarding human rights issues in Taiwan
To: chwong@gate.sinica.edu.tw
From: Richard John <rdca25@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 30, 2010 at 11:15 AM
Subject: Regarding human rights issues in Taiwan
To: chwong@gate.sinica.edu.tw
Dr. C. H. Wong
President,
ACADEMIA SINICA
Taipei, Taiwan
30 September 2010
Dear Dr. Wong,
I taught at the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature at National Cheng Kung University for 22 years before my retirement. I was involved in an illegal dismissal case in 1999, a case that has lasted more than a decade, up to the present.
As the letter below explains, my dismissal involved egregious human rights violations, including NCKU president, Kao Chiang, refusing to enforce a legal Ministry ruling for nearly two and a half years (see attachment). The current president, President Lai, has continued this policy of scorn for human rights principles, refusing to issue a formal apology or compensation.
To this day not a single official has been punished; I have received neither a formal apology nor compensation, guaranteed by international human rights charters, to which Taiwan subscribes, recently confirmed by Taiwan's president.
Despite the fact that Taiwan citizens receive human rights guarantees, protections, and defense in my country, the United States of America, not a single human rights group has voiced its support for me in this case, though the issues are evident and even documented by Taiwan's own Ministry of Education (see attachment).
Apart from human rights issues, as I indicate in the letter below, this does not reflect well on Taiwan democracy, the commitment of Taiwan's professors to democracy, or even the academic integrity of Taiwan's academic institutions in general, since, obviously, if a professor's rights can be violated with impunity professors are likely to compromise academic principles rather than risk their academic positions. That was precisely the reason tenure was established in the first place, to insure administrative and academic integrity.
I am curious if you are concerned about these issues and are willing to voice your concerns publicly or administratively. I would appreciate this.
Apart from human rights issue and academic concerns discussed above, many Taiwan professors were accredited at American universities (or universities in other democracies) and enjoyed human rights protections when matriculated there; I think Taiwan professors should observe the principle of reciprocity, part of both Western and Asian ethical norms.
Thank you for your consideration of these issues.
Sincerely,
Richard de Canio
Associate Professor
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature
National Cheng Kung University
(August 1988 - July 2010)
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
30 September 2010
Dear Minister Wu,
This is a second copy of a letter I sent in August.
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)
President,
ACADEMIA SINICA
Taipei, Taiwan
30 September 2010
Dear Dr. Wong,
I taught at the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature at National Cheng Kung University for 22 years before my retirement. I was involved in an illegal dismissal case in 1999, a case that has lasted more than a decade, up to the present.
As the letter below explains, my dismissal involved egregious human rights violations, including NCKU president, Kao Chiang, refusing to enforce a legal Ministry ruling for nearly two and a half years (see attachment). The current president, President Lai, has continued this policy of scorn for human rights principles, refusing to issue a formal apology or compensation.
To this day not a single official has been punished; I have received neither a formal apology nor compensation, guaranteed by international human rights charters, to which Taiwan subscribes, recently confirmed by Taiwan's president.
Despite the fact that Taiwan citizens receive human rights guarantees, protections, and defense in my country, the United States of America, not a single human rights group has voiced its support for me in this case, though the issues are evident and even documented by Taiwan's own Ministry of Education (see attachment).
Apart from human rights issues, as I indicate in the letter below, this does not reflect well on Taiwan democracy, the commitment of Taiwan's professors to democracy, or even the academic integrity of Taiwan's academic institutions in general, since, obviously, if a professor's rights can be violated with impunity professors are likely to compromise academic principles rather than risk their academic positions. That was precisely the reason tenure was established in the first place, to insure administrative and academic integrity.
I am curious if you are concerned about these issues and are willing to voice your concerns publicly or administratively. I would appreciate this.
Apart from human rights issue and academic concerns discussed above, many Taiwan professors were accredited at American universities (or universities in other democracies) and enjoyed human rights protections when matriculated there; I think Taiwan professors should observe the principle of reciprocity, part of both Western and Asian ethical norms.
Thank you for your consideration of these issues.
Sincerely,
Richard de Canio
Associate Professor
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature
National Cheng Kung University
(August 1988 - July 2010)
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
30 September 2010
Dear Minister Wu,
This is a second copy of a letter I sent in August.
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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