User:Milksyrup/sandbox

"Dissgate (dissertation-gate) of Ing-wen Tsai," which is translated from the title「蔡英文論文門」in Mandarin, is a series of events of doubting the actual existence of Tsai's doctoral dissertation owned by LSE in 1980s, and finding the connection between Tsai's doctoral dissertation and doctor's degree by a small group of people. The President of Taiwan (Republic of China), Ing-wen Tsai, claims her PhD graduating from LSE as her educational background. , then started her teaching career in Chengchi University since 1984, had distinguished employed by the government since 1986, ran for election since 2004, and became the Presidents of Taiwan (ROC) in 2016.

== Overview == Related discussions started in 2015. Before the 14th presidential election of Taiwan (ROC) in 2016, the journalist Yu-kou Zhou talked about a group of people were sent to the USA by Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party, also known as KMT), to investigate Ing-wen Tsai's thesis in order to find out any negligence, and might use it to against Tsai about using the identical topic for both of her master's and doctor's dissertations. A party member of DPP (Democratic Progressive Party), also the incumbent Vice Premier Chi-mai Chen, responded that Ing-wen Tsai graduated from the Cornell University, and no dissertation was required for the Master's Degree; KMT won't find anything, and no any plagiarism even exists.

In 2019, Ing-wen Tsai, who was seeking re-election as the President of Taiwan (ROC), once again, got questioned about the existence of her dissertation and the doctor's degree, by the Emeritus Professor of College of Law of National Taiwan University, Dr. De-fen Ho, the Chinese-American independent political commentator, Mr. Changqing Cao, and the former Director & Professor of Graduate Institute of Journalism of National Taiwan University, also the host of a political talk show ”True Voice of Taiwan” Dr. Wen-zheng Peng. On Jul. 19, Tsai's dissertation was made public at LSE Library in London.

On Aug. 29, Dr. De-fen Ho held a press conference to announce, the Associate Professor of Economics at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Dr. Hwan-chiang Lin's independent investgation report. Based on the report by Lin, "...she (Ing-wen Tsai) was at best a doctoral candidate who had completed her thesis, but did not pass the thesis’s oral examination."

In early Sep. 2019, the President of Taiwan (ROC), Ing-wen Tsai, took a legal action by filing a complaint to public prosecution against Dr. Hwan-chiang Lin, Dr. De-fen Ho, and Dr. Wen-zheng Peng, for the cause “Offense Against Reputation and Credit”. On Sep. 23, the original copy of Tsai's dissertation, and Tsai’s three certificates of the same one doctor's degree were disclosed by the Office of the President.

On Sep. 27, Ing-wen Tsai's dissertation was made public in Taiwan by the National Central Library. On Oct. 8th, a statement about Ing-wen Tsai’s degree awarding, appeared on the official website of LSE, in "News" section, categorized as "in the press": "“...the records of LSE and of the University of London - the degree awarding body at the time - confirm that Dr Tsai was correctly awarded a PhD in Law in 1984...” "

This statement was criticized: no legitimate exists for the statement written with no one's signature on it. Dr. Peng stated that the school, LSE, is not responsible for the content on the website, with its terms of use, section 2.7:

"We are a distributor (and not a publisher) of content supplied by third parties and users of the internet. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including information providers, or users, are those of the authors or distributors and not of us. We do not necessarily endorse nor are we responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the Website."

and section 2.8:

"The information on the Website is not intended to address your particular requirements. Such information does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by us and is not intended to be relied upon by you in making (or refraining from making) any specific educational, or other, decisions. You should take your own advice and/ or make specific enquiries and independently verify any information before relying upon it."

When a member of Legislative Yuan, Syue-sheng Chen investigated Ing-wen Tsai's promotion materials at Chengchi University in July 2019, he found that Tsai's promotion materials were all classified until the end of 2049. A public hearing called (translated from Mandarin) "Establish Processing Principles of Objectivity and Impartiality in Violation of Academic Ethics" was hosted by Chen in the Legislative Yuan of Taiwan (ROC) in Nov. 2019. Dr. Wen-zheng Peng and Dr. De-fen Ho were invited.

Ing-wen Tsai claimed herself is “a PhD in International Economic Law” in a journal called "Chengchi Law Review", which specific issue was published by Chengchi University in Jun. 1983, yet in Jan. 1984, Tsai's passing the oral defense of her doctoral dissertation was notified.

Jun. '19: A "Never Received" Doctoral Dissertation
The Missing Body of Tsai's Dissertation

In a press conference named "Calling for the President Ing-wen Tsai" about the Controversy of The Principal Selecting of NTU on May 20, Dr. De-fen Ho mentioned that she never could find Ing-wen Tsai's dissertation at LSE (The London School of Economics and Political Science) and hoped Tsai would be willing to publicly respond.

On June 10, Mr. Changqing Cao, formally and systematically, doubted Tsai's integrity and her "missing" dissertation on the independent political talk show "True Voice of Taiwan" hosted by Dr. Wen-zheng Peng.

According to Cao, the librarian of the LSE Library has replied the inquiry about Tsai's dissertation; "...LSE library has never had a copy of this thesis...," Cao quoted. Cao wondered the name of Tsai's doctoral advisor, even doubted if it's the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zhao-xie Wu, wrote the doctoral dissertation for Tsai. Next day on Dr. Peng's talk show, Dr. De-fen Ho asked: (summarily translated from Mandarin)"'You must have your doctoral dissertation and the doctoral certificate to apply for a teaching job, how did she get a job at Chengchi University if she has no any dissertation?'"Later Dr. Peng demonstrated the whole printed email reply from the Librarian Assistant of LSE Library, Ruth Orson: "Dr. Tsai's thesis is unavailable I'm afraid. LSE library has never had a copy of this thesis.

All PhDs from that period were awarded under the University of London banner and would have been sent first to Senator House Library, and this being under Law would also have gone to the IALS.

Unfortunately Senator House apparently never received a copy and the IALS are unable to find their copy.

We had to make extensive searches when Dr Tsai stood for election and I'm sorry to disappointed.

Best wishes," That day Peng also doubted how Tsai got faculty promotion.

On July 13, the President of North America Taiwanese Professors' Association, NATPA, Ching-hui Tsai, showed a screen cap about an email from the Enquiry Service Manager of LSE, in which it's written, "the thesis was submitted properly and that the degree could not have been awarded without it," and mentioned that soon there will be a facsimile copy of Tsai's thesis available; however, "any quoting or reproduction need written permission from the author." The author means Ing-wen Tsai. Tsai's doctoral dissertation was made public at LSE Library on July 19, and the Ministry of Education of Taiwan (ROC) endorsed publicly at the same day.

On Sep. 23, the Office of The President of Taiwan (ROC) held a press conference to demonstrate the original copy of the President Tsai's doctoral dissertation, and indicated that the President Tsai will authorize the National Central Library to make public. Four days after, a digital copy of the dissertation was made public by NCL.

Jul. '19: The Doctor's Degree of 1984, with the Signature of 2015
Three Certificates of One Doctor's Degree

On Jul. 9th, the President of Taiwan (ROC), Ing-wen Tsai, publicly demonstrated her doctoral certificate in person during a business company visit. Next day, Dr. Peng doubted the authenticity of Tsai's certificate. On his talk show, Peng thought that it's impossible to have a certificate of 1984 with the signing of Adrian Smith, who is the former Vice-Chancellor of LSE from 2012 to 2018, but not Randolph Quirk, the former Vice-Chancellor from 1981 to 1985.

Dr. Fang-long Shih, a former Co-Director of Taiwan Research Programme and a Research Fellow at the LSE Asia Research Programme, spoke for Ing-wen Tsai. On Jul. 11, Shih indicated on her own Facebook page, the certificate of Tsai was re-issued in 2015, and that's the reason why there is the signature of Adrian Smith on it. According to Shih’s post, one of her colleagues in LSE has gone mad and said, “Taiwanese are only politically motivated! Push! Push! Push! Bad faith!”

After Shih's posting, Dr. Peng and Dr. Ho brought another email reply from the Head of Diploma Projection Office of University of London, Theresa Byrne, on Jul. 13: “Replacement certificates are only issued in cases of proven loss or accidental destruction, and they will of course still be identical to the original document -- same wording, same signatures etc.

Regards,“ On Aug. 26, a party member of KMT, also the City Councilor of Taipei, Shu-hui Yu, questioned: (summarily translated from Mandarin) "'Tsai claimed herself graduated in 1984 and Adrian Smith became the Vice-Chancellor of LSE in 2012. If Tsai’s certificate was re-issued in 2015, then what did she have at the time for running for President in 2011, running for New Taipei City Mayor against Li-luan Chu in 2010), and getting distinguished employed as the Minister of the Mainland Affairs Council (in 2000)?'"On Sep. 23, besides the original copy of Tsai's dissertation, President Tsai’s three certificates of the same one Doctor's Degree, and a graphicalized timeline for explaining the academic & career path of Tsai were disclosed by the Office of the President. On Oct. 8th, a statement about Ing-wen Tsai’s degree awarding, appeared on the official website of LSE, without the name of the author, in "News" section, categorized as "in the press" : "LSE has received a number of queries regarding the academic status of our alumna, Dr Tsai Ing-wen, President of Taiwan.

We can be clear the records of LSE and of the University of London - the degree awarding body at the time - confirm that Dr Tsai was correctly awarded a PhD in Law in 1984.

''All degrees from that period were awarded via the University of London and the thesis would have been sent first to their Senate House Library. ''

''The Senate House Library records confirm that a copy was received and sent by them to the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS). There is a listing of Dr Tsai’s thesis ‘Unfair trade practices and safeguard actions’ in the IALS index document “Legal Research in the United Kingdom 1905-1984”, which was published in 1985.''

''Dr Tsai recently provided the LSE Library with a facsimile of a personal copy of the thesis, Unfair trade practices and safeguard actions which is available to view in the Library Reading Room. We understand Dr Tsai has also provided a digital version of her personal copy to the National Central Library of Taiwan." However, with this statement of LSE, Dr. Hwan-chiang Lin queried Senate House Library and IALS for the dissertation of Tsai on Oct. 9th. Two emails were replied separately on Oct. 12, from Senate House Library: Thank you for your email.''

''It would seem from our card catalogue records that Senator House Library never received the original copies of this thesis from the External Examiners. Later records indicate that a third copy was sent to Senator House Library in 2011 and this was then sent on to IALS. However it would appear that since then IALS have confirmed that they no longer have this copy. I apologise for not being able to help you further.''

Kind regards, and IALS: We have been asked many times for this thesis, but we do not have a copy in our collection and we have no record that we ever received the copy that was sent to us, I'm afraid.

As you will see from the LSE's statement, they have now obtained a copy from the author.

Best wishes, The interview with the D. Phil of Oxford, Dr. Yung-tai Hsu, who have read Tsai's dissertation made public on July 19 at LSE Library, by World Journal was published on Oct. 14. Hsu stated, based on the official document of LSE about certificate re-issuing:"“Only one replacement certificate will ever be issued to an applicant.”"Hsu wondered how three different copies Tsai even can apply for. On Nov. 1st, the former President of Taiwan, Shui-bian Chen mentioned on his own Facebook page: (summarily translated from Mandarin)"'It's Anthony Giddens to help after Ing-wen Tsai's doctoral certificate lost in 2015.' "

Aug. '19: Dr. Hwan-chiang Lin, Dr. Yung-tai Hsu, and Dr. Chen-sheng Yen
An Authentic Dissertation or a Draft with the Identical Title

Dr. Hwan-chiang Lin
On Aug. 27, Dr. Hwan-chiang Lin, an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, published his independent investigation report, "Can One Earn a PhD from LSE without a Thesis? The Bizarre Story of President Tsai", and Dr. De-fen Ho held a press conference to announce it on Aug. 29 in Taipei. Dr. Lin wrote in the report:"'The investigation obtained multisource evidence, showing that President Tsai was not awarded a doctoral degree in 1984, in contrast to what she claimed. At that time, she was at best a doctoral candidate who had completed her thesis, but did not pass the thesis’s oral examination.'"Dr. Lin indicated seven findings to ground his conclusion:


 * 1) Senate House has never received the final copy of Ms. Tsai’s approved thesis for deposit in the designated university libraries.
 * 2) Ms. Tsai’s handheld diploma at Dcard was a fake replacement certificate, as it bore an incorrect Vice Chancellor’s signature.
 * 3) Ms. Tsai had obtained two replacement certificates in 2010 and 2015, respectively, so they both must be fake for the university policy allows only one replacement certificate ever to be issued to any applicant.
 * 4) All other 108 PhDs of the academic year 1983-84 have their metadata in Senate House Library, but Ms. Tsai is the only exception.
 * 5) While Ms. Tsai’s thesis has its metadata in the British Library, it hadn’t actually existed prior to June, 2015.
 * 6) Ms. Tsai’s student record has nothing entered to indicate that she did pass an oral-defense examination or submit an approved thesis in 1983-84.
 * 7) The student record also indicates that Ms. Tsai withdrew from the course of the Mphil/Phd programme on November 10, 1982 and henceforth became deregistered.

Some email replies were documented, and Dr. Lin thought of these as "internally conflicting views":

The Library Assistant of LSE Library, Ruth Orson replied on June 6:"'...All PhDs from that period were awarded under the University of London banner and would have been sent first to Senator House Library, and this being under Law would also have gone to the IALS. Unfortunately Senator House apparently never received a copy and the IALS are unable to find their copy...'"The Head of Media Relations of LSE, Daniel O’Connor replied on June 14:"'...Further to you or remarks, the records of both the London School of economics and Political Science and the University of London confirm that Tsai Ing-wen was awarded a PhD in Law 1984 and the student record shows that the thesis was submitted...'"In section 9.3 of the report, Dr. Lin wrote, "If Ms. Tsai is indeed a bona fide Ph.D. from LSE, there should be no problem presenting these documents requested above for procedural justice," and these are:


 * 1) A photocopy of her original PhD diploma that Ms. Tsai submitted to National Chengchi University  (NCCU) for an associate professor position in 1984.
 * 2) The notarized replacement application that Ms. Tsai submitted in 2015 to request a replacement of her Ph.D.
 * 3) The original official letter from the University of London informing that Ms. Tsai had passed the thesis-defense examination  (viva) as well as the official receipt verifying that the Senate House Library of the University of London had received a copy of Ms. Tsai’s approved thesis.

Dr. Yung-tai Hsu
On Sep. 18, Dr. Yung-tai Hsu's article, " Thoughts after reading the dissertation of Ing-wen Tsai " in Mandarin was published by World Journal. In this article Dr. Hsu documented the day he has been through in LSE Library and brought questions about this dissertation of Tsai.

According to Hsu, the one and the only dissertation was placed in the reading room of Women's Library at LSE, and four requirements was mandatory to meet in order to borrow: (summarily translated from Mandarin)


 * 1) The access card of LSE Library.
 * 2) You must read it in one specific reading room of LSE Women's Library.
 * 3) The reading is under the supervision of the librarian.
 * 4) The rules which made by the author, Ing-wen Tsai, must be followed and so must the rules of the library: No copying, no picture taking, no citing, no recording, no water drinking. You can note, only with a pencil.

Hsu brought some questions in his article like: six pages missing, American spelling in this dissertation, and justify format used for 334 pages, which Hsu thought that's definitely related to the year of the dissertation created. Hsu demonstrated two samples he made, "Typing Align Left format" and "Word Justified Format" in the end of the article.

Hsu wondered why this dissertation got indexed until June 28, 2019, 35 years after Tsai graduated from LSE. President Tsai responded about these rules on Sep. 19. This is the 2nd time also the latest of Tsai's response related to "Dissgate" in person, publicly. Tsai stated, she herself has the degree, means she has the dissertation, and knows nothing about those rules.

" Thoughts after reading the dissertation of Ing-wen Tsai 2: A double-locked Pandora's box "  in Mandarin was published by World Journal on Sep. 23. Hsu brought more observations and questions. According to Hsu's article, other dissertations in LSE were owned by LSE and all the covers were blue, yet the copyright of Tsai's dissertation belonged to herself and the cover was black; you can cite other dissertations of LSE but not Tsai's. Hsu wrote (translated from Mandarin), "It is not one public property of LSE, but her own private property, which stored in LSE Library," and, "'The reading restrictions of Tsai's dissertation are just the same as the Chiang Diaries, except that they are in different libraries, different countries.'"Hsu thought that there was no academic significance for a dissertation that no one was allowed to cite after reading.

Dr. Chen-sheng Yen
A public hearing called "Establish Processing Principles of Objectivity and Impartiality in Violation of Academic Ethics" in the Legislative Yuan of Taiwan (ROC) was held on Nov. 28, 2019. One of the participants, Dr. Chen-sheng Yen, the Researcher of Institute of international relations of Chengchi University, indicated that there were 444 typos in this dissertation, which was preserved by the National Central Library since Sep. 27, 2019. Yen himself said: (summarily translated from Mandarin)"'I would rather think of it as a draft than a dissertation,'"though Tsai herself claimed, the original copy at LSE was "lost without knowing why" and it was "once again" making public of this dissertation, in her Mandarin statement included in this English dissertation, which was the Chinese page Dr. Yen thought "Unnecessary."

That day, Dr. Yen listed 10 issues of this dissertation of Tsai:


 * 1) The Chinese Page Unnecessary
 * 2) Number of Spelling Errors Unacceptable
 * 3) Numbering of Pages Problematic
 * 4) Capitalization Inconsistent
 * 5) Punctuation Erratic
 * 6) Margins Not Consistent
 * 7) Dividing Words into Syllables Not According to the Rule
 * 8) Using of Different Fonts in an Unacceptable Way
 * 9) Mixed Use of British and American English Should Be Avoided
 * 10) Quotations and Bibliography Not According to the Rules

Sep. '19: Her President's Complaint to Public Prosecution against Dr. Lin, Dr. Ho, and Dr. Peng
Cause: Offense Against Reputation and Credit

Her President's Complaint
On Aug. 29, after Dr. Ho's revealing Dr. Lin's report, President Tsai publicly responded about taking a legal action. It's the first time of Tsai's response related to "Dissgate" in person: (summarily translated from Mandarin)"'My alma mater LSE has announced a statement about me being awarded PhD in 1984, and this is beyond doubt. Also I was listed as one of the remarkable alumni on the website. My educational background was checked every time when I was hired by universities, was distinguished employed by the government, and ran for election. It has been countlessly examined so definitely there is no any problem about it. I don't know why Prof. Ho (Dr. De-fen Ho) still kept on doubting. We will file a complaint to public prosecution since Prof. Ho mentioned about judicial examination. We'll let the judicature examine.' "On Sep 4th, an LSE student record of Tsai, a letter about notifying of passing the oral defense of dissertation, and a photocopy of the certificate, which was claimed it was preserved by LSE, issued in 1984, were disclosed by the Office of the President. On the same day, the President Tsai filed a complaint to public prosecution against Dr. Lin and Dr. Ho, then Dr. Peng on Sep. 12. Dr. De-fen Ho responded on her Facebook page on Sep. 11. Dr. Ho expressed her recognition about judicial examination, and had no attention to file another complaint against Tsai. Ho mentioned the President's immunity from criminal prosecution, and several potential crimes she thought Tsai might have involved in, "malicious accusation, fraud, forge of official document, and causing a public official making in a public document a false entry."

Dr. Wen-zheng Peng responded during his talk show on Sep. 13. Peng showed the attitude of welcome and doubted the eligibility of the complainant, "the Office of the President." Peng indicated that this is a matter of Tsai herself, not the Office of the President, and this is corruption and malfeasance of public officials. Peng stated, he is going to organize a tour group to London, where LSE locates and hold an international press conference.

Later the same day, Dr. Hwan-chiang Lin responded through his post on Facebook; Lin wrote: (summarily translated from Mandarin)"The meeting minutes of the faculty promotion of Tsai were designated as top secret, which means equivalent to permanent, yet the media in Taiwan rarely reported it. Ying-wen Tsai, while you sealed up your shady documents, you accused us, we three scholars (Ho, Lin, Peng) in the name of the Office of the President. Is this just? " According to The Classified National Security Information Protection Act, article 4 & 11, information may be classified in one of the three designations: "Jue Duei Ji Mi" (Top Secret) for no more than 30yrs, "Ji Ji Mi" (Secret) for no more than 20yrs, and "Ji Mi" (Confidential) for no more than 10yrs. All the official documents for faculty promotion of Tsai are classified for 30 years and designated as "Mi." On Dec. 4, Dr. Peng took two legal actions against the President Ing-wen Tsai. One was a complaint of malicious accusation through criminal procedure, the other one was a legal relation confirming, for making sure of the existence of the authentic dissertation of Tsai, owned by LSE in 1980s, through civil procedure.

Until now, none of these cases gets initiated to the court, including Tsai's. Dr. Peng's case of confirming a legal relation was dismissed on Jan. 15, 2020.

On Dec. 21, Dr. Hwan-chiang Lin quoted an employee's email reply from Diploma Production Office of University of London, on his Facebook post:"“Please note, we do not provide scan copies of award certificates for reasons of security and the prevention of fraud.'"Lin indicated, this reply was consistent with the rule showed on the University of London's webpage "Requesting a transcript or replacement degree certificate." In the section "how to request certified copies of certificates," it's written:"'Only one degree certificate is issued to each student and we do not hold copies,...'"

In London The Press Conference, Dr. Peng and Dr. Lin
On Oct. 18, one press conference was held at the hotel Savoy in London by Dr. Wen-zheng Peng and Dr. Hwan-chiang Lin. Peng said, "We are here to seek help from British media and British people," with six questions:


 * 1) To ask LSE and University of London to clarify whether Tsai has gone through all requirements by LSE PhD academy: Did she pass the oral defense for her PhD program?
 * 2) Who was her thesis examiner?
 * 3) Has the problematic thesis met the LSE PhD requirements?
 * 4) Why the thesis was missing and never available to public reading before June 2019?
 * 5) What is the relationship between Taiwan research programme and Taiwanese government?
 * 6) What is the role of Taiwan research programme in this "thesis" event?

Two exclusives of Peng were showed: email replies from Ruth Orson and Theresa Byrne, one to prove that Tsai's dissertation was never collected by the 3 libraries: LSE library, Senator house library, and IALS, and the other to question that why three certificates of Tsai of one Doctor's Degree were all signed by different Vice-Chancellors. Two official documents of LSE which Tsai provided to the media in Taiwan were demonstrated: the document of thesis submission and an LSE notice of Tsai's passing the oral defense. Peng indicated, both official documents by Tsai were unsigned while displayed.

Based on Dr. Hwan-chiang Lin and Dr. Yung-tai Hsu's findings, the defects of Tsai's dissertation, which was made public at LSE library since July 19, were listed:


 * 1) Pagination: not in numerical sequence
 * 2) Pages: not single-sided leaves
 * 3) Footnotes: not in numerical sequence
 * 4) Missing pages
 * 5) Handwritten editing
 * 6) Computer justify format vs. typewriter style in 1983
 * 7) No declaration
 * 8) No conclusion
 * 9) No official acceptance by LSE on the front pages

"We have been sued by President Ing-wen Tsai in Taiwan for accusing her three forged LSE PhD diplomas and fake thesis," and, "She is immune to lawsuit as an incumbent President," said by Peng, also:"'Given the LSE's history, it is a matter of major public importance here (UK) and in Taiwan. The public is reassured about the way in which President Tsai was awarded her PhD, and if she did in fact meet all the criteria applicable at the time, until then serious question marks remained.'"

Oct. '19: "Classified" Faculty Promotion of Tsai
Grave Damage to the National Security

"Jue Duei Ji Mi", "Ji Ji Mi", "Ji Mi", and "Mi"
On Oct. 15, two members of Legislative Yuan of Taiwan (ROC), also the party members of KMT, Syue-sheng Chen and Dr. Yi-min Chen, held a press conference to reveal that all the related official documents for faculty promotion of Tsai were classified as "Mi" until the end year of 2049. Syue-sheng Chen questioned: (summarily translated from Mandarin) "'Why can't all these official documents be made public when the reputation of the President is questioned?'"Yi-min Chen, based on the official document reply from Ministry of Education on July 19, indicated, all the official documents for faculty promotion of Tsai were designated as "Mi," and the date of declassifying is Dec. 31, 2049; 30 years (from 2019 to 2049) means "Jue Duei Ji Mi" and the Ministry of Education should have designated all these documents as "Jue Duei Ji Mi." According to "The Classified National Security Information Protection Act,": "'Jue Duei Ji Mi,' shall be applied only to information they aren't authorized disclosure of which reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security.'"Yi-min Chen asked: (summarily translated from Mandarin)"'Will all these documents for faculty promotion of Tsai cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security, or her personal interest?' " According to "The Classified National Security Information Protection Act ," the information may be classified in one of the three designations: "Jue Duei Ji Mi" will be classified for no more than 30 years,"Ji Ji Mi" will be classified for no more than 20 years, and "Ji Mi" will be classified for no more than 10 years. All the official documents for faculty promotion of Tsai are designated as "Mi" and classified for 30 years.

A member of legislature wanted to know how Tsai got the position.
One member of Legislative Yuan, Syue-sheng Chen demanded Tsai's dissertations, works, and related documents for faculty promotion on July 18. Next day, The Director of Department of Higher Education at Ministry of Education, Jyun-juang Jhu, publicly responded to Chen and endorsed Tsai on July 19. However, there was no any doctoral dissertation of Tsai of 1984 preserved in both Chengchi University, where Tsai's start of her teaching career was after graduation, and Ministry of Education. The doctoral dissertation of Tsai demonstrated by Jyun-juang Jhu on July 19, was some photos of a dissertation of Tsai, which one was made public at LSE Library at the same day. This day is also the day when Chen received the reply from Ministry of Education about the classifying of all the official documents for faculty promotion of Tsai.

After the Dean of College of Law at Chengchi University, Lai-jie He's stating on Sep. 22: (summarily translated from Mandarin)"'Tsai should have been employed as an associate Professor, but not be promoted to become one ,'"Chen demanded the related official documents of Chengchi University's Hiring Ing-wen Tsai in 1984, which the photocopy of Tsai's doctoral certificate in 1984 was included in on Sep. 23, and asked for reply before Sep. 27. Chen questioned about no related documents replied, to two officials of the Ministry of Education, the Minister, Wun-jhong Pan, and the Director, Jyun-juang Jhu during the interpellation session in Legislative Yuan on Oct. 2nd, yet Jhu answered, Tsai's certificate in the official documents of Chengchi University's employing Tsai in 1984 was identical to the certificate made public by the Office of the President. Instead of handing documents to Chen within bureaucracy, Jhu himself stated he can schedule for Chen to review those related official documents in Chengchi University. Chen declined after he learnt several restrictions on reviewing by Chengchi University: no company, no picture taking, no recording, and no touching.

"Violations of Academic Integrity"
After the official documents of faculty promotion of Tsai were classified on Jul. 19, the talk show "Echo Chamber" hosted by Atty. Wen-hsun Tung and Dr. Hsien-hung Yang streamed a segment named (translated from Mandarin) "Does LSE know Tsai's violations of academic integrity?" on Oct. 2nd. Based on the discovery of Tung, different written languages yet identical content appeared in both Tsai's English doctoral dissertation and another Chinese dissertation by Tsai, which is collected in the journal "Chengchi Law Review vol. 27", published in June 1983 in Taiwan. Tung and Yang stated, identical content is from page 252 to 298, 46 pages consecutive in Chengchi Law Review vol. 27, and no citing or disclosing in Tsai's doctoral dissertation. Tung indicated, in Tsai's English doctoral dissertation, there were total 6 stacks of pages, whose content have been published in other journals and, "This dissertation hardly exists without these 6 stacks," Tung said (translated from Mandarin).

Another Dr. Yang called "misrepresentation" was brought in the same segment. Tsai's passing the oral defense at LSE is in Oct. 1983, yet in a Chinese journal which got published in June 1983, Tsai claimed herself is “an LSE PhD in International Economic Law” (Chengchi Law Review vol. 27). Tung doubted, by then Tsai was not even a PhD yet.

Next day, Tung and Yang filed a petition to Control Yuan to ask for further investigation by public officials. According to the Constitution of the Republic of China, "The Control Yuan shall be the highest control organ of the State and shall exercise the powers of consent, impeachment, censure and auditing."

On Oct. 30, the member of legislature, Syue-sheng Chen filed a complaint, in which 20 comprisons between Tsai's English doctoral dissertation and other Chinese theses by Tsai were listed, to the Minister of Education, Wun-jhong Pan, and indicated that the President Tsai was suspected of violating academic integrity. Chen emphasized, "It's indispensable to disclose for self-citation, or it's self-plagiarism."

"President Tsai will authorize National Central Library to make public of her dissertation."
On Oct. 3rd, Dr. Hsien-hung Yang doubted the National Central Library's collecting the dissertation of Tsai. According the Degree Conferral Act, Yang stated, "By Universities, dissertations get sent to National Central Library, not individuals." On the talk show "Echo Chamber," Atty. Tung and Dr. Yang called for the National Central Library to withdraw this "dissertation" or recategorize it as "Book" on Oct. 8th

The member of legislature, Syue-sheng Chen, held a press conference on Nov. 15. Chen indicated, the National Central Library has collected 959 dissertations from abroad in the last 10 years. Only 49 of them were categorized as “Dissertation” and the rest as “Book.” Among 49 dissertations, 48 of them were sent by Chu Hai College of Higher Education or New Asia Institute of Advanced Chinese Studies, which both were recognized by the Ministry of Education. Oniy one was sent by an individual and collected: Tsai’s doctoral dissertation.

Chen questioned, for being collected by "National Digital Library of theses and dissertations in Taiwan," besides the document of authorization from the individual, the official certificate is required; since Tsai's dissertation was sent to NCL without the certificate on Sep. 25, what did the National Central Library collect Tsai's dissertation and endorse Tsai's dissertation as "Dissertation" based on?

"Doppelgänger"
Another segment titled (translated from Mandarin) "Does Ing-wen Tsai have a doppelgänger? A master student's thesis advisor from 1981 to 1984?" by "Echo Chamber" was streamed on Oct. 17. According to the press conference held by the Office of President on Sep. 23, the PhD certificate of LSE was sent to Tsai in Mar. 1984. However, Atty. Tung discovered and demonstrated several screen caps, that from 1981 to 1984, Tsai was Huan Lin, a master student's thesis advisor. Tung questioned (summarily translated from Mandarin), "At best, Tsai can start teaching at the second semester..., and after this semester, a student got his Master's Degree and Tsai was the advisor?" Tung wondered if the universities (Chengchi and Soochow) employed Tsai even before her graduating from LSE. According to Huan Lin's thesis published in 1988, it's written in his preface that after his passing the oral defense in the spring of 1984, he was enlisted immediately . According to the Office of President, LSE notified Tsai for her passing the oral defense in Jan. 1984.

Nov. '19: A Public Hearing in the Legislative Yuan of Taiwan (ROC)
A public hearing called "Establish Processing Principles of Objectivity and Impartiality in Violation of Academic Ethics," for Dissgate of Ing-wen Tsai, was held in the Legislative Yuan of Taiwan (ROC) on Nov. 28, by a member of legislature, Su-mei Gao-jin, and another legislator, Syue-sheng Chen was the host. DPP, the party which Ing-wen Tsai belongs to, responed "no intention to attend." According to Chen, different parties were all invited to attend and the event will be a live broadcast.

Syue-sheng Chen brought the question about NCL's collecting Tsai's dissertation, to the Deputy Director of NCL, Ying-mei Wu. Chen asked Wu (translated from Mandarin), "Which one of the three certificates of Tsai, that Peng just demonstrated, was the one that Tsai sent to NCL with her dissertation?" Wu responded, "None of the three."

Based on Wu's response, besides the personal authorization of Ing-wen Tsai, two attached official documents were "a notice of passing the oral defense", and "a notice of the Doctor's Degree awarded."

Dec. '19: The Viva on Sunday
According to an independent journalist, Michael Richardson's report published on Dec. 10, and Dr. Lin's Facebook post, the Information and Record Manager of LSE, Rachel Mcguire's email reply indicated that Ing-wen Tsai's PhD viva was on Oct. 16, 1983. And that day was Sunday. Lin wrote in his post (translated from Mandarin), "It's impossible to schedule a viva on Sunday."

Jan. '20: "The Former LSE PhD Law Student Dr Tsai Ing-wen"
After Tsai's winning the presidential election on Jan. 11, an article "LSE alumna Dr Tsai Ing-wen re-elected," in which Tsai was called "Former LSE PhD Law student Dr Tsai Ing-wen," was published on the LSE official website on Jan. 15, 2020. Two days after, Dr. Wen-zheng Peng gave examples on his talk show to doubt if LSE has proved that Tsai didn't graduate from LSE as a PhD: Ursula von der Leyen and Ulf Axelson. Peng thought, this title "former student" was only for those alumni who didn't graduate from LSE. Ursula von der Leyen and Ulf Axelson, both are alumni of LSE, both didn't graduate from LSE, and both were titled "former student" when they were mentioned in related news on LSE website.

On Jan. 20, Michael Richardson published his news report, " University of London internal review refuses to name Tsai Ing-wen thesis examiners claiming Privacy Act exemption from public disclosure ." According to this article, the London School of economics declined to identify the thesis examiner's but stated they conducted a Viva with Tsai on October 16th 1983; it's Sunday.

Rosalind Frendo, the Director of Compliance and Secretary to the Board at University of London, who undertook an internal review of the matter, replied, "I do not believe that the requirements for transparency outweigh the privacy of individuals in the context of this request."

Feb. '20: A Complaint to ICO against UOL; Dissgate in Japanese: "論文ゲート"
On Feb. 4th, a Facebook user Kei Shibata translated and published an extracted, Japanese version of Dr. Lin's report, "論文ゲート：世紀の大スキャンダルの大きな突破口＿二つの未公開のメールが全てを明かす," also Dr. Hsu's article in Japanese, "蔡英文論文を読んだ後の感想."

The independent journalist Michael Richardson published an article to reveal that there has been a complaint filed with ICO against University of London, over the non-disclosure of the identity of Ing-wen Tsai's 1984 London School of Economics thesis examiners on Feb. 5th. He wrote, "The privacy protection claim for the student is non-meritorious and contrary to the Information Act mandate of public disclosure. The University of London should be compelled to supply the requested information."

Summary
On Jan. 11, 2020, after the result of Tsai's winning the presidential election was revealed, Dr. Peng, on his talk show "True Voice of Taiwan," stated (translated from Mandarin), "A group of people is investigating overseas," and "This is going to the end of the world until the truth comes out." The outcome of Dissgate of Ing-wen Tsai is uncertain.