National Tsing Hua University 429 Declaration: Universities Should Defend Taiwan's Democracy and Academic Freedom

Faculty and students of National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) released the '429 Declaration' regarding the 2018 NTU presidential selection case (the Kuan Chung-ming case). The declaration recalls how the 1991 'Independent Taiwan Case' (Dutu案) fostered freedom of thought and academia, and expresses deep concern that despite the President, Vice President, and Minister of Education all hailing from higher education backgrounds, such an absurd selection case still occurred at NTU, seeing it as a potential degradation of Taiwan's democracy. It emphasizes that mankind's primary value lies in civilization and Taiwan's in democracy, and that universities should defend these values. Finally, it presents three demands to President Tsai, including withdrawing the decision on NTU's selection, amending the University Act to allow selection committees to autonomously decide presidents, and implementing the removal of party, government, and military influence from campuses.

2018年4月30日

⚖️ Curriculum Adjustments and Student Suicide: Reflection on Civil Violence and the Legitimacy of Movements

This article makes strong criticisms against the 2015 Taiwan curriculum adjustment controversy and the student movements it caused, questioning the legitimacy of students occupying the Ministry of Education and the incident of a dropout student's suicide. The author believes that making 'civil violence' a habit is trampling on democratic values, and criticizes movement participants for using suicide incidents to achieve political goals.

2015年8月2日