News
DPP defends Taoyuan mayoral candidate
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is defending its Taoyuan mayoral candidate, Lin Zhi-jien following a ruling by the National Taiwan University that he committed plagiarism in his master's degree thesis and recommended that his degree be revoked. According to the DPP spokesman Huang Shih-jie, Lin did not plagiarize his master's thesis and the university caught him off guard with its "abrupt" announcement, after Lin had offered to talk to the ethics review committee. Huang says Lin detailed the timeline of his thesis and presented evidence related to its authenticity, but the committee chose to ignore that, and the DPP supports any actions by Lin to defend his reputation.
However, opposition parties are calling on Lin to apologize and withdraw from November's election. Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Deputy Spokesman Yang Zhi-yu is urging the DPP to take appropriate action - saying “Taiwan does not need a dishonest and disgraced candidate” while the New Power Party's is criticizing Lin for refusing to own up to his mistakes. Meanwhile the Taiwan People's Party Taoyuan mayoral candidate, Lai Hsiang-ling says Lin's alleged plagiarism shows that he lacks integrity and honesty and is therefore unfit to run for mayor of the city.
