The Thesis Gate: An international PhD scandal involving Taiwan and U.K.
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Thesisgate vs. Watergate: A deceitful Taiwan President faking a PhD diploma with multiple versions
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The Thesisgate scandal borrows rhetorical implications from the Watergate scandal of 1972 to 1974. Watergate is to US President Richard Nixon as Thesisgate is to Ms. Ing-wen Tsai, President of the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan.
The Watergate scandal stemmed from the administration of US President Richard Nixon’s attempts to cover up its involvement in wiretapping the Democratic Party’s headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. This scandal ended Nixon’s presidency.
In contrast, the Thesisgate scandal -- as evidenced by an array of proofs documented in my 50-page report -- is a long-term doctoral-degree fraud committed by Ms. Ing-wen Tsai, who entered the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in October, 1980 and shortly withdrew from a MPhil/PhD program on November 10, 1982.
But similar to Watergate, the Thesisgate scandal involves institutional authority’s cover-ups, mainly coming from the ROC government, the LSE, and the University of London.
However, it is shameful that most of the mainstream media in Taiwan have spared no effort to side with Ms. Ing-wen Tsai since the Thesisgate scandal started to heat up in Summer 2019, much less pay any respect to their social responsibilities for unfolding the truth.
Notably, the Thesis scandal has become even more murky due to a transfer of seemingly overseas funds from an anonymous donor to Dr. Fang-long Shih, who served as Co-Director of the Taiwan Research Program of LSE’s Asia Research Centre. Dr. Shih was the sole beneficiary of the donated money, which totaled about 48,000 British pounds (or one million US dollars) .
From the LSE-disclosed information, the transfer of funds took place prior to August 1, 2007.
The Asia Research Centre was destabilized in March, 2016, and so was the Taiwan Research Program. As such, Dr. Shih has since then not affiliated with the LSE, but she remained present in Taiwan’s media from time to time to defend Tsai’s fake PhD by carrying the non-existent title of Co-Director of the Taiwan Research Programme.
The Thesisgate scandal is therefore complicated and international in scope. Unlike the short-lived Watergate scandal, the Thesisgate scandal has prevailed in a 37-year timespan from 1983 to the present.
In Taiwan, it is well-known that Ms. Ing-wen Tsai is a politician full of deceit. She lied from time to time.
For instance, the ROC’s National Security Bureau got involved in smuggling a massive number of cigarettes in July of last year (2019). At the outset, she attempted to cover up the crime by unduly interpreting the smuggling as “excessive” purchases of cigarettes. But she ended up making an apology.
Shortly, she lied again In September of last year. At a rally that amassed many young people in Taipei, Taiwan, she said cheerfully that her previous teacher Professor John Barcelo had passed away, so she could talk about him. In truth, Professor Barcelo at 80 remains active at Cornell University. She apologized again. But what was the weird motivation behind her deceitful speech at the rally?
President Tsai’s deceitful behavior can actually date back to 1983. In that year, she published two sole-authored articles, respectively, in the June and December issues of Chengchi Law Review, a Chinese-language academic journal affiliated with National Chengchi University where Ms. Ing-wen Tsai used to teach as a law scholar. In each of these two articles, Ms. Tsai claimed that she held an LSE PhD in international economic law. Her claim was groundless whatsoever:
First, the University of London has never ever awarded an LSE PhD in international economic law.
Second, there is no official record at all that she was awarded a doctorate in 1983.
Third and most seriously, she has never been able to show the original document of her so-called “LSE PhD diploma.” Instead, in the form of three photocopies, her mysterious diploma came in the public eye for the first time in 2019. These photocopies are attached in Figures 1 - 3. （請見林環牆博士臉書，那裡能顯示圖表）
It is bizarre, indeed. These photocopies are three different versions of the same so-called “PhD diploma” and each version bears a signature from a different Vice-Chancellor of the University of London. How could one has more than one version of his or her diploma?
Frankly, it is sad that all evidence from my investigation points to Ms. Ing-wen Tsai faking her mysterious PhD diploma with multiple versions at some points in time. This is a a criminal fraud. My explanations are in order:
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Photocopy of the so-called original diploma (Figure 1)
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First, let us examine Figure 1, which was initially displayed in public at the presidential office press conference of September 4, 2019. According to the presidential office, it is a photocopy of the original document of her so-called “LSE PhD diploma”, allegedly awarded on March 14, 1984. The presidential office further emphasized that it was the LSE that provided this photocopy.
Apparently, the presidential office fabricated a story to cover up the Thesisgate scandal.
We should notice that it was the University of London rather than the LSE that served as the degree-awarding body in 1984. We should also notice that the University’s policy dictates that it does not hold and provide photocopies of award certificates for reasons of security and the prevention of fraud. This policy is evidenced by a reply email dated December 13, 2019 from the University’s Diploma Production Office.
So, how can the presidential office obtain a photocopy of the mysterious diploma either from the LSE or the the University of London, while showcasing this photocopy on September 4, 2019? The presidential office owes us an honest explanation.
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Photocopies of the so-called replacement diploma (Figure 1)
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Second, Figures 2 and 3 are photocopies of another two versions of Tsai’s mysterious PhD diploma.
Of them, Figure 2 is the photocopy of a replacement certificate allegedly issued in 2010. Ms. Tsai used this replacement certificate to corroborate her doctoral degree for her to participate in the election of Mayor of New Taipei City in 2010.
Figure 3 is the photocopy of another replacement certificate allegedly issued in 2015. This copy was what President Tsai displayed at Dcard, a Taipei-based social-media company, on July 9, 2019. Yet, it was unbelievable that a month ago, this version already appeared on a third-party Facebook page owned by Professor Chung-Chi Li, who teaches at Illinois State University.
According to what the presidential office explained, President Tsai applied for the second replacement in 2015 because some people started questioning the authenticity of her doctoral degree. In fact, this cannot be a justifiable reason for the application for a replacement certificate under the University’s policy. To clarify such ambiguities, I wrote to Diploma Production Office of the University of London, and Head of this office Teresa Bryne replied by a June 12, 2019 email (attached below):
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“Replacement certificates are only issued in cases of proven loss or accidental destruction, and they will still be identical to the original document, same wording, same signatures, etc.”
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The two replacement copies (Figures 2 & 3) are totally different from the so-called original-document copy (Figure 1) in terms of their wording and signatures. So, it must be true that President Tsai forged a non-existent PhD diploma using three different versions or that someone helped her do the forged documents. This shocking conclusion conforms to the proven finding that none of the three university libraries (Senate House Library, IALS Library, LSE Library) has any record of receiving a final copy of Ms. Ing-wen Tsai’s examined PhD thesis in 1983-84.
