Master's thesis plagiarism, tutor "suicide block gun", party: I am a victim

| Meng Lingxiao


On August 9, the National Taiwan University Academic Ethics Review Committee approved that the former Hsinchu mayor Lin Zhijian’s master’s thesis at National Taiwan University had plagiarized the senior Yu Zhenghuang’s master’s thesis, and the circumstances were serious. It is recommended that his master’s degree be revoked.

Since the National Taiwan University Academic Affairs Office received the report letter on July 6, the censorship of this paper has lasted for more than a month.

NTU President Guan Zhongmin said that the plagiarism incident this time has caused great damage to the reputation of the school, and many speculations and emotional attacks from the outside world have caused another kind of damage to the reputation of the school.

​​It is worth mentioning that Lin Zhijian's master's thesis at Chung Hwa University in Taiwan is also suspected of plagiarism, which is still under investigation.


Plagiarism turmoil, constantly escalating


From July 6th to 8th, the Academic Affairs Office of National Taiwan University received a number of signed letters of accusation, pointing out that Lin and Yu's master's thesis was highly overlapping and involved plagiarism. Zheng Xiuling, director of the Department of Economics at the front desk of

, pointed out in a column that the two master's papers used the same analysis method to discuss the same research issues. In addition, the similarity of the two texts is as high as 87.7%, and all 11 tables are the same.

Zheng Xiuling also found that Lin Zhijian's master's thesis advisor He Lixing at Chung Hwa University in Taiwan, in the past 26 years, has guided an average of 15.7 graduate students to graduate each year. And Lin Zhijian's supervisor at National Taiwan University, Chen Mingtong, guides an average of 6.4 graduate students to graduate each year. "It can be seen that these two teachers have peaches and plums all over the world."

After more than a month of review, Su Hongda, dean of social sciences at National Taiwan University and convener of the review committee, said that the two papers of Lin Zhijian and Yu Zhenghuang firstly have a high degree of similarity in the abstract and conclusion, and 15 highly overlapping parts, 8 of which are beyond Within a reasonable range, there are many "same right and same wrong" situations, so it is determined that Lin Zhijian, who published the paper later, plagiarized Yu Zhenghuang.

Taiwanese media production paper contrast palette


​​Previously, Su Hongda had published an internal letter to the doctoral, master’s, bachelor’s and master’s students of the academy through the Office of the Academy of Social Sciences of National Taiwan University. The letter characterized the incident as a "scandal" and emphasized that the committee will follow the law and never let it go.

According to the "Key Points for Handling Cases Violating Academic Ethics in Ph.D. and Master's Dissertations" issued by the Research Integrity Office of National Taiwan University, in order to maintain the objectivity and fairness of the review, the accused has or has had a thesis supervisor teacher-student relationship, oral examination committee, etc. Other interested parties shall not serve as members of the approval committee.

​​Therefore, Lin Zhijian's thesis advisor Chen Mingtong did not serve as a member of the review committee. However, Chen Mingtong has "voiced off the court" for Lin Zhijian three times.

On July 5, Chen Mingtong emphasized that Lin Zhijian was the original author of the paper; on July 22, Chen Mingtong issued a 11-point statement of more than 4,000 words, explaining the writing process of Lin Zhijian and Yu Zhenghuang's paper; on July 31, Chen Mingtong published another 2,000-word article , emphasizing that he revised Lin Zhijian's thesis first, and then handed it over to Yu Zhenghuang. In fact, Yu Zhenghuang and Chen Mingtong also have a deep relationship.

Chen Mingtong is Yu Zhenghuang's master's thesis oral examination committee member. Currently Yu Zhenghuang is still in the doctoral class at National Taiwan University, and Chen Mingtong is his supervisor. Moreover, Yu Zhenghuang works for Taiwan's legal agency Hsinchu City Investigation Station, while Chen Mingtong is currently the head of Taiwan's security department, and can be regarded as the chief of Yu Zhenghuang's .

In the case of Yu Zhenghuang and Lin Zhijian, Chen Mingtong strongly supported the latter, showing their closeness. The above-mentioned measures were called "suicide blocking guns" by many Taiwanese netizens. On August 1, KMT member Wang Hongwei called Chen Mingtong "self-proving guilty" for supporting Lin Zhijian, and said that he would report Chen Mingtong to the Office of Academic Integrity of National Taiwan University and Taiwan's "Ministry of Education" for violating academic ethics.

At present, National Taiwan University stated that the school has been reported about Chen Mingtong's case, and will form an appraisal committee to investigate in accordance with relevant regulations.

​​Regarding this, Chen Mingtong responded through a friend that if National Taiwan University initiates an academic ethics investigation against him, he will give a full explanation. As for the complete context of Lin and Yu's thesis, it has been fully explained before, and all walks of life are welcome to observe the whole picture.

​​There is another detail worthy of attention. Tsai Ing-wen once left a message under Lin Zhijian's social media, "Zhijian has worked hard!", and wrote nearly a hundred words of encouragement.

​​In this regard, the Chinese Kuomintang appealed that since the outbreak of the plagiarism incident of Lin Zhijian's paper, the DPP has devoted all its efforts to save one person, and has continued to use political operations to cover up, cover up, and even use Unnecessarily criticizing the National Taiwan University Academic Ethics Review Committee, trying to shift the focus and cover up the fact that Lin Zhijian violated academic ethics and integrity. Now Tsai Ing-wen should also take responsibility and apologize to the people of Taiwan. Settled?


​​At the press conference on the 9th, Ding Shitong, dean of National Taiwan University, explained that according to the content of the report reviewed by the review meeting, there were many serious overlapping plagiarized contents in the paper, such as the abstract, the first chapter, the third chapter, the The four chapters and conclusions all have large-scale plagiarism, which does not meet the requirements of academic ethics.

According to National Taiwan University’s "Key Points for Handling Cases Violating Academic Ethics in Ph.D. To revoke the degree, announce the cancellation of the issued degree certificate, notify the return of the degree certificate, and notify other colleges and universities and relevant agencies (institutions) of the revocation and cancellation. In the case of academic ethics, the review committee may order the accused to make corrections, make a public apology, or take other appropriate measures within a time limit. It can be seen that the review committee of National Taiwan University believes that this incident is "a serious violation of academic ethics". The two sides of "Plagiarism Gate" still have different opinions.

​​At the press conference that afternoon, Yu Zhenghuang expressed through his lawyer that he was very pleased that he was found to have no plagiarism. At the same time, regarding the recent inappropriate accusations of defamation and copyright infringement, A lawsuit will be filed at an appropriate time to safeguard rights and interests.

​​Yu Zhenghuang's lawyer said that he will consider filing a lawsuit against Lin Zhijian for "copyright infringement" with reference to the examination results and follow-up explanations of National Taiwan University.

At the same time, Lin Zhijian will hold an The press conference responded to the National Taiwan University Academic Ethics Review Meeting, emphasizing that he is a "victim" and criticizing National Taiwan University for judging without trial and ignoring the evidence he presented.

He said, "Having this degree is not important for me to run for mayor (Taoyuan City) It doesn’t matter.” Hsinchu citizens are more educated than him everywhere. Putting forward political achievements and opinions is the kingly way. The original intention of defending one’s own innocence and serving the citizens of Taoyuan has not changed.

That night, Lin Zhijian posted a long article of nearly a thousand characters on social media, Said, "When I entered National Taiwan University in 2013, I was already a member of parliament. Even though I was busy with work, I tried my best to spare time and take classes on Fridays and Saturdays. "

As for the suspected plagiarism of another master's thesis of Chung Hwa University in Taiwan, professionals inside and outside the school have formed a review committee to enter the investigation process.

However, in order to avoid controversy over Lin Zhijian's thesis, Li Yanhui, the former chairman of the school, resigned. Ma Heng, the director of the industrial management department who convened the meeting, also resigned due to "health reasons". The school is currently on summer vacation, and the review committee and subsequent investigations may be postponed.

Under the front row comments of Lin Zhijian's social media, some netizens responded that "Does education matter? ? What matters is integrity. ""Education is not important, but political achievements are important?" Then let us see the Hsinchu Baseball Stadium..."

​​Previously, Lin Zhijian spent NT$1.2 billion to renovate the Hsinchu Baseball Stadium during his tenure as the mayor of Hsinchu. Athletes were injured. Lin Zhijian apologized many times for the Hsinchu Baseball Stadium and asked everyone to have more confidence. ://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/sWW0Ygs0mk3uKbXAtbN0_Q