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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Wong under pressure to resign following Ma meet
/ Staff writer, with CNA
Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey （翁啟惠）, who has been banned from leaving the nation over allegations of insider trading and corruption, is facing more pressure to resign after he failed to do so during a meeting yesterday with President Ma Ying-jeou （馬英九）.
After being named as a possible defendant on Friday for his controversial dealings with biotechnology company OBI Pharma Inc （台灣浩鼎）, Wong came under renewed pressure from Academia Sinica members and certain lawmakers to resign.
It was expected that he would tender his resignation to Ma in their meeting. Instead, Wong delivered a letter in which he stated that he would authorize his deputy to handle important matters for the institute and that he would hand over the position to his successor ahead of the schedule once a new head is selected.
Wong, a world-renowned biochemist, said he regretted sparking controversy with his comments on the clinical trial results of a breast cancer drug developed by OBI Pharma and his failure to disclose that his daughter held OBI shares.
He denied allegations of insider trading and manipulation of stock prices, and maintained that he had not “sold Academia Sinica technology at cheap prices or committed corruption.”
“I have spared no efforts in assisting Taiwan’s scientific research and biotechnology development,” he wrote, and thus, “Taiwan has taken the lead in the area of carbohydrate chemistry and the application of glycoproteins in medicine.”
Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen （陳以信） said after the meeting that Ma expressed hope that Wong would reconsider his decision, which Ma said was not quite what the public expects.
Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） legislative caucus whip Alicia Wang （王育敏） said the caucus strongly demanded Wong’s immediate resignation.
As Wong has been invited to report his dealings with Taipei-based OBI Pharma in a meeting the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee tomorrow, KMT Legislator Apollo Chen （陳學聖）, who heads the committee, said it would be better for Wong to tender his resignation voluntarily.
The Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） also expressed hope that Wong would resign soon.
DPP spokesman Wang Min-sheng （王閔生） said the party believes Wong is not suitable for the job and should resign so that the nation’s highest academic institute can resume its normal operations.
The DPP said it hoped that the authorities can reveal the truth as soon as possible.
While in the US, Wong late last month Wang tendered his resignation to Ma, citing health reasons. Ma did not accept his resignation and urged him to return to Taiwan.
OBI Pharma chairman Michael Chang （張念慈） has also been listed as a potential defendant in the case. He was released on NT$1 million （US$30,901） bail.
Wong has admitted to providing funds for his daughter to purchase shares in OBI Pharma.
Wong sold some of those shares days before OBI Pharma announced that the results of phases two and three clinical trials of the drug did not meet expectations, causing the company’s stocks to plummet.
Wong said that the incident did not amount to insider trading, because he was not aware of the results of the trial when he sold the shares.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
