Premier Jiang Yi-huah has accepted the resignation of Minister of Education Chiang Wei-ling, Executive Yuan Spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun stated today.
Chiang submitted his resignation to the premier following a discussion this morning, Sun explained. Chen Der-hwa, who has been serving as the Ministry of Education's political deputy minister, will henceforth take over as the agency's acting minister.
Chiang's resignation follows news reports that he was listed as a co-author for several of 60 academic papers recently retracted by the Journal of Vibration and Control because the main author, Chen Chen-yuan, was suspected of committing serial fraud during the peer review process.
During his meeting with the premier, the former minister stated that although he had offered multiple explanations to clear himself, the public still harbored doubts about his integrity, so he would voluntarily step down to ensure the government's implementation of education policies can continue to proceed smoothly, Sun said.
After accepting Chiang's resignation, the premier affirmed Chiang's contributions as Minister of Education over the past two years and five months, including his promotion of the second-phase restructuring of technical and vocational education, development of model science and technology universities, completion of a white paper on personnel training and implementation of 12-year basic education.