Lai’s campaign manager denies thesis plagiarism allegations

TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Lai Ching-te's campaign manager, Pan Men-an, has been accused of plagiarism in his master's thesis, which he denies. 

On Tuesday (Aug. 1), Wang Hung-wei of the opposition Kuomintang demanded corrective measures within two months as 54% similarity was found by plagiarism detection software, with 52% traced to online sources and 10% detected in published materials.

The National Kaohsiung Normal University (NKNU) acknowledged a violation of academic ethics by Pan but stated that the misconduct was not severe enough to revoke his degree. However, the university has demanded corrective measures within two months.

When Pan's work was run through plagiarism detection software Turnitin, it recorded a 54% similarity index, with 52% traced to online sources and 10% detected in published materials. 

Despite these findings, Pan refuted the allegations of plagiarism and issued a three-point statement. He respected the review results of academic ethics, called for politics not to intrude on campuses, and affirmed that his master's graduation had met all requirements.