TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Lin Chih-chien (林智堅) has quit the Taoyuan mayoral race amid a plagiarism scandal, but the ruling party is still in hot water.
The scandal culminated when the National Taiwan University (NTU), where Lin completed one of his master's programs, announced its decision to rescind his degree after allegations of plagiarism were confirmed by the school's academic ethics committee.
However, the DPP chairwoman and the country's president, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), expressed her strong moral support for Lin in a Facebook post two days after the school made the decision, saying Lin was a capable leader when he served as mayor of Hsinchu. She also claimed NTU's ruling was biased.
"Many people know Lin's statement of defense was not recognized by the school and the party members who have read copies of Lin's thesis choose to believe his innocence," she said. Local media outlets observed that not a single DPP politician backed her comment under the post.
Lame duck?
Polls conducted a week prior to NTU's decision generally show the former Hsinchu mayor maintaining a strong lead in Taoyuan, though it decreased as the scandal escalated.
Lin had been in the lead over his Kuomintang opponent Simon Chang (張善政) by over 10 percentage points prior to the scandal. To win in the upcoming local elections and to ensure Tsai's standing within the party, accusing opponents of waging a smear campaign without examining Lin's academic integrity is the best tactic for the DPP to play, as pointed out by a UDN analysis.
Unanswered questions
Lin has been accusing opponents of mudslinging and seeking public sympathy by saying his family has been living under the spotlight against their will. The former candidate said that he feels sorry for them.
Influencers and politicians are urging Lin to present his email correspondence with his thesis advisor at NTU, Chen Ming-tong (陳明通), to establish a clear timeline of his thesis writing process and prove his innocence. "There are 375 discussion emails between my professor and me, and I would show them if someone dared to question my academic integrity," said the influencer Brian Tseng (曾博恩), a comedian who was educated at top schools in Taiwan, the U.K., and France.
An NTU professor said in a UDN opinion piece that Lin might have had no idea how serious his actions were while writing his thesis, and his thesis advisor should take the blame for not following due process. The professor helped his student take an illegitimate shortcut to complete the work, he said.
Tsai in hot water
Tsai's unwavering support for the candidate in question also has made herself a target of criticism.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said on Friday that Tsai was wrong for getting involved with Lin's scandal. She acted out of her blind pursuit for power. "Tsai serves as a bad example and should apologize to the Taiwanese for her wrongdoings of degrading those safeguarding academic integrity, and to NTU, for her questioning the school's academic independence."
