As a patent attorney, the author understands the need for private and public integrity and for putting together science and conscience. It did not happen in the Tai Ji Men case.
by Daniel Y.C. Lee*
*A paper presented at the 5th Annual Meeting of East Asian Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (EASSR) “Religion and Science in the Global East in Context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” held online on July 11–13, 2023.
The notion of Fourth Industrial Revolution refers to the vigorous development of technology and digital revolution in today’s society. It involves emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things, big data, blockchains, and so on. These technologies are transforming both the way industries operate and personal lifestyles. The technological innovations and advancements brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution undeniably change our way of life, and these groundbreaking developments drive social and economic transformations. Patent attorneys play a crucial role in this process by assisting innovators in protecting and managing their intellectual property, promoting technological progress, and market competition.
However, mere technological development alone cannot fully meet people’s needs and desires. As living standards improve, we start to ponder the meaning and values of life. This kind of reflection and exploration goes beyond technology itself and encompasses aspects such as ethics, values, and human emotions. Religion and belief systems play an important role in providing spiritual solace and guidance to individuals.
The government also plays a crucial role in this virtuous cycle. Firstly, the government assumes a regulatory and normative role in technological development. Apart from establishing an effective intellectual property system to encourage innovation and protect innovators’ rights, the government ensures that technological advancements comply with legal and ethical standards while safeguarding public interests and personal privacy. The government also needs to maintain and respect religious freedom, ensuring that people have a spiritual anchor while pursuing technological advancements. If these measures can be successfully implemented, the government goes beyond being a mere provider of services and establishes a relationship of trust with the people, thereby fulfilling its key role.
As a patent attorney with many years of practice, I deeply appreciate the arguments mentioned above. The primary responsibility of a patent attorney is to assist individuals and companies in obtaining legal protection for their inventions through patent applications. The patent laws and regulations promulgated and implemented by the government instill confidence in the people, enabling them to safely disclose their innovations to the world, thereby promoting technological advancements and improving people’s lives. This legal protection not only encourages innovation but also provides inventors with opportunities for recognition and rewards, further motivating them to invest more time and resources in innovative research.
Additionally, I am also a disciple of Tai Ji Men, where I have been learning qigong for over eighteen years. During this time, my master, Dr. Hong Tao-Tze, has not only taught me qigong to maintain a balanced and healthy body but also emphasized the importance of loving myself and extending that love to others. By utilizing my expertise in the field of intellectual property, I can help others and contribute to the progress of the country. This highlights the necessity of a positive and proactive belief system for individuals to maintain balance and progress. I count myself as fortunate to have this connection as a disciple of Tai Ji Men.
However, in my field the efforts of patent attorneys alone are not enough. The government also needs to ensure fair, justice, and transparent implementation of patent laws to establish a favorable innovation ecosystem. These factors indicate that the government must establish a profound trust relationship with the people to achieve these goals. Building such a relationship requires long-term and extensive interaction and communication with people from all walks of life. If this relationship is undermined, it can be destroyed rapidly. The key lies in whether the people trust their government. As I observe, governments in different countries and regions exhibit significant differences in patent protection and enforcement. Some governments may face issues of dishonesty, such as administrative non-compliance or a malfunctioning appeal system, leading to cases of injustice and even to human rights abuses. Such situations not only demonstrate the government’s lack of integrity but also have negative impacts on the country’s economic development, technological innovation, and religious freedom.
I would mention the Tai Ji Men case in Taiwan, which has been described by Juselia Lin in this session of the EASSSR conference, as an example. This qigong martial arts practice organization upholds the wisdom of Chinese Tai Ji culture and promotes it domestically and internationally through the concepts of love, peace, and conscience. It guides disciples in cultivating themselves internally and externally, helping many individuals improve their physical and mental health, stabilize their spirituality, and unleash their potential in their professional fields. Thus, it contributes to social stability and national economic development.
However, as Juselia Lin mentioned, due to the government’s non-compliance with its own laws and a malfunctioning appeal system, a false case of persecution was fabricated. Anyone who understands the details of the Tai Ji Men case can easily recognize its absurdity. The fact that the Taiwanese tax authorities could ignore the Supreme Court’s ruling on Tai Ji Men’s innocence and non-tax-liability, blatantly engage in illegal actions against justice and facts, and even resort to the illegal auction and confiscation of private land owned by Tai Ji Men seriously violated religious freedom and human rights. It is worth noting that Tai Ji Men is an organization with over 10,000 disciples. The government’s actions revealed a lack of integrity and created both a domestic problem for the citizen’s trust in the rule of law and an international problem for the image of Taiwan, since Tai Ji Men protests were covered by several international media and discussed in international human rights and scholarly conferences. In turn, this can have a harmful impact on the country’s economic development, technological innovation, and religious freedom.
In fact, a government’s adherence to the rule of law and to integrity has an impact on the social, economic, and political environment of a country. When the government governs with integrity and acts in accordance with the law, it demonstrates its responsibility and commitment to the people, establishes a relationship of mutual trust, and lays a solid foundation for the stability and prosperity of the country. Governing with integrity is a cornerstone of a country’s steady growth. To achieve government integrity in governance, the government needs to take the following specific measures in its daily operations:
1. Transparency and openness. The government should exercise its power in a transparent and open manner. This includes disclosing the government’s policy decision-making process, budget utilization, and relevant law enforcement activities. The government should establish a sound system of information disclosure, enabling the public to understand the government’s operations and supervise its actions. Taking the Tai Ji Men case as an example, the Taiwanese government should publicly review the cases where government officials violated the law. If violations are ascertained, the government should not only apologize to the public sincerely but also provide improvement plans and correct the mistakes. Regarding the tax bills of the Tai Ji Men case, the relevant government agencies could have easily and legally withdrawn the ill-founded tax bills by citing existing laws, instead of trying to conceal the facts and resort to the illegal auctioning of assets finally. Such actions seriously violated human rights and should not be forgotten just because the case has been declared as officially concluded.
2. Establishing effective oversight mechanisms. The government should establish strongly internal oversight mechanisms to strengthen the supervision and inspection of government officials’ work. At the same time, the government should encourage social and media oversight, accept public control. The initial purpose of Taiwan’s advocated “separation of five powers” governance system was to create a balance among government operations to prevent despotism and promote the establishment of democracy and the rule of law. However, the current situation is that Taiwan’s tax authorities have excessive power, and tax and prosecution officials can disregard legal issues without hesitation. Even if they are investigated and corrected by the Control Yuan, the officials involved in the wrongdoings can still avoid any punishment. The separation of five powers governance system in Taiwan has already become unbalanced, so how can the rights of taxpayers be safeguarded? Taiwan’s Control Yuan should implement its supervisory function, to ensure that officials who violate the law are appropriately dealt with and to guarantee tax justice.
3. Combating corruption. Corruption is the most dangerous threat to integrity in public governance. Taiwan has enacted and implemented the “United Nations Convention against Corruption Implementation Act” on May 20, 2015, and activated it from December 9 of the same year. The government should strengthen anti-corruption efforts, implement anti-corruption legal systems, punish corrupt practices, and improve the transparency and quality of government work. In the Tai Ji Men tax case, it is clear that a key issue lies in the fact that tax officials had a system of tax work incentives bonus, which encouraged them to issue tax bills to the people without regard to the importance of evidence, easily obtain their own bonuses, and openly engage in collective corruption. Moreover, even if a tax bill is invalidated in the end, there is no accountability. Such collective corruption undoubtedly leads to widespread unfairness in cases affecting the Taiwanese people and harms public trust in the government.
4. Protecting citizens’ rights. The government should respect and protect the rights and interests of its citizens. The government should establish effective complaint and appeal mechanisms to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the people and provide impartial judicial protection. In the litigation of the Tai Ji Men tax case, the Administrative Appeal Court and Administrative Supreme Court should have been able to make independent judgments and provide a mechanism for citizens to argue and present their case. When handling cases of tax authorities’ illegal acts, the courts should make their own judgments instead of dismissing the cases and sending them back to the original authorities to handle. This situation of illegal tax bills persisting indefinitely causes the Tai Ji Men tax case to remain unresolved after 27 years, which is unreasonable.
The government’s integrity is the cornerstone of maintaining social stability and development. The government should strive to establish a just, transparent, and reliable rule of law environment, not only ensuring the normal operation of the patent system, my own specialized field, but also ensuring that all systems related to the citizens’ rights and interests are effectively regulated and enforced. By doing so, the government encourages innovation and technological development while protecting the rights and interests of innovators and the public, while also considering all the needs of the citizens. The Tai Ji Men case is a comprehensive indicator of cases involving religious freedom and judicial independence, highlighting the deep-rooted problems in Taiwan’s tax system. The Taiwanese government must handle it carefully.
The Tai Ji Men case has already caused unavoidable harm to Taiwan. If proactive corrective measures and remedies are not taken, it will lead to irreparable consequences and impact on the Taiwanese government. Therefore, the Tai Ji Men case serves as an indicator of whether Taiwan can continue to progress. For the Taiwanese government, addressing and resolving the Tai Ji Men case in a fair and reasonable manner is urgent and necessary.
Governing with integrity is indeed an important approach to achieving steady national growth. It establishes a trust relationship between the government and the people, promotes social stability, economic development, and the protection of citizens’ rights. However, achieving integrity in governance is not easy and requires the government’s firm will and actions, as well as the collective efforts of society. Only when the government governs with integrity can a country achieve stability, prosperity, and gain the trust and support of the people. Therefore, the government should always be guided by integrity, uphold justice, and use this as a driving force for the healthy material and spiritual development of the country.
Source: Bitter Winter