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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 LSE alumni urge people to consider facts
A copy of the cover of President Tsai Ing-wen’s doctoral thesis is pictured in London in an undated photograph. Photo provided by the Ministry of Education
By Lee Hsin-fang and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Taiwanese alumni from the London School of Economics and Political Science （LSE） yesterday urged people to refrain from speculation about the authenticity of President Tsai Ing-wen’s （蔡英文） doctoral dissertation.
The institute and the Ministry of Education have verified the authenticity of Tsai’s dissertation and diploma and discourse should be based on facts, not excessive conjecture, the group said.
National Taiwan University professor emeritus Ho De-fen （賀德芬） on Aug. 29 alleged that the dissertation was forged, citing an independent investigation by Hwan C. Lin （林環牆）, a professor in the University of North Carolina’s Charlotte Belk College of Business.
Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） caucus members on Friday called for a review committee to assess the dissertation’s authenticity.
“The degree and the dissertation are authentic. What is authentic cannot be faked,” Tsai said on Friday.
The alumni said that LSE has an outstanding international reputation, with other alumni being Nobel Prize winners.
The allegations have harmed its reputation and its alumni, they said.
“Nobody who has gone through testing at LSE and legitimately received their diploma should be subjected to such accusations,” they said.
There are 12,000 Taiwanese studying in England, while deans at Taiwanese universities are in England seeking academic cooperation, they said, adding that hopefully Taiwan and England could boost academic exchanges.
Citing LSE’s Latin motto, Rerum cognoscere causas, the group said they hope people would investigate to “understand the causes of things.”
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
