Tsai Ing-wen Photo:VCG

University professors and media celebrities in the island of Taiwan held an international press conference in Taipei on Thursday on the final hearing on the alleged academic fraud of regional leader Tsai Ing-wen at the island's legislative authority, local media reported.

Observers believe Tsai's academic fraud issue concerns the security of the island as she might collude with foreign forces to protect her from legal sanctions at the cost of the interests of the region after she leaves office.

During the press conference, Ho De-fen, law professor emeritus at the National Taiwan University, accused Tsai, who is also the leader of the pro-secessionist Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), of having forged her doctoral dissertation and her academic credentials from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), media outlet crntt.tw reported.  

Associate professor Hwan C. Lin at the University of North Carolina and media celebrity Dennis Peng attended the press conference through video. 

Eight "ironclad proofs" of Tsai's academic fraud were presented on the conference,  media outlet udn.com reported Thursday. The proofs included the change of topic of Tsai's doctoral dissertation on her resume, the fake doctoral certificate reissued in 2015 and the forged mystery "Kennedy document" that certifies Tsai's doctoral degree. There is no evidence of the three papers required by LSE to submit before graduation and no record of Tsai's doctoral dissertation returned by the external oral examination committee or by Tsai's supervisor, media reported.

Challenged by the accusations, Taiwan regional government claimed that LSE had issued a formal statement to confirm that Tsai was correctly awarded a PhD in Law in 1984.

The regional government's response seemingly failed to convince the public.

Tsai's academic dishonesty issue concerns the security of the island of Taiwan, mentioned Sun Yat-Sen School president Chang Ya-chung who came to support Ho at the press conference, crntt.tw reported.

Tsai might collude with foreign forces to protect her from legal sanctions at the cost of the interests of Taiwan after she leaves office. And this is very dangerous for the island, said Chang.

Tsai's academic credentials have been the subject of discussion in local media since Peng raised the issue in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election, the Taipei Times reported in April.

Apart from the accusations of academic dishonesty, Tsai has been also criticized by mainland authorities for her deliberate slander over the mainland's treatment of Taiwan actress Zhang Junning who was questioned by some netizens for supporting "Taiwan independence." Tsai smeared the mainland in the name of "democracy."

In response to Tsai's provocative comments over the controversial issue of Zhang, the spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council condemned DPP's deliberate slander on Thursday and reiterated that the mainland welcomes and supports  cultural exchanges and cooperation across the Straits.

We wish compatriots across the Straits to open their eyes, identify and oppose those malicious acts sabotaging cross-Straits relations, said the spokesperson.

Zhang's group made an announcement on Tuesday clarifying that Zhang does not support "Taiwan independence" and has always identified herself as a Chinese national.