方舟子的Blog

按：《华尔街日报》今天以“中国辩论假履历的指控”为题报道了唐骏事件。其网络中文版有所删节。现根据英文版提供完整译文，【】是根据英文版补充的段落。

唐骏“学历门”引发热议

By LORETTA CHAO
《华尔街日报》2010年7月16日

一位知名的微软公司(Microsoft Corp.)前在华高管被指文凭作假。此事在中国引起人们对专家所谓的学术背景欺诈泛滥现象的热议。

这一争论始于本月初。以批判剽窃和学术欺诈闻名的科普作家方舟子称唐骏号称获得的加州理工学院(California Institute of Technology)的博士学位是假的。唐骏于2002年至2004年担任微软(中国)有限公司总裁。

方舟子说，唐骏在其畅销书《我的成功可以复制》中声称自己毕业于加州理工学院，他试着查证此事，并给这所大学打了电话，但未发现唐骏的毕业记录。【加州理工的一位代表在星期四说唐骏不是毕业于该校。】

唐骏否认说过自己毕业于加州理工学院，并告诉中国媒体他毕业于另一所大学。7月8日，这本书的出版商──中信出版社和蓝狮子财经策划中心在声明中说此书的第二作者应为这一错误负责，并且唐骏曾亲自要求删除与这所学校相关的内容。唐骏现任新华都实业集团的首席执行长，这家公司投资于零售业、房地产业和其它公司。【没法联系到此书第二作者对此发表评论。】

周四未能联系到唐骏发表评论。他未接听手机。公司的接待员称他出差了。

进一步的指责不断袭来，这一争论已成为中国网民的最热门话题，也引发了当地媒体的报道旋风。部分网民称这一事件为“假文凭门”。近年来，另一些受到广泛关注的所谓的学术欺诈事件已引发了人们的关注，专家称这是中国普遍存在的问题，而不仅仅是公司试图证实候选员工的背景时才会遇到的问题。

威达信集团（Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc.）旗下的美国风险咨询公司Kroll驻香港高级董事总经理Tad Kageyama说，在一定程度上伪造学历的原因是由于中国及亚洲其它地区的雇主过分关注候选员工毕业院校的声望，却较少注意评估他们的经历，再加上中国相对易于购得非法文凭的环境，在一定程度上造成简历欺诈的现象在中国比在其它地方更为普遍。

范德瀚特（北京）国际管理咨询有限公司首席人力资源顾问赵成龙说，由于缺乏随时可供查询的公共信息，中国雇主进行背景核查的比例较低，从而进一步刺激了作假行为。由于难以查询，许多在华公司在雇请员工时并不检查相关证书。假文凭的现象显示了中国存在更广泛的社会问题。公司不应当仅看重文凭（及学校的声望）却忽视了教育的质量。

方舟子说，中国的简历欺诈率比其它地方更高。他在给《华尔街日报》的邮件中说他以唐骏为目标是因为唐骏不是个普通的商人，他是年轻人的偶像，由于他的报料，中国社会缺乏诚信的问题受到广泛讨论，这难道不是社会在朝着更健康的方向发展吗？

唐骏对官方媒体《中国日报》说，他从未说过自己毕业于加州理工学院。报纸引述他的话称，我只说过我在那里做过一些研究，实际上，我在加利福尼亚的西太平洋大学(Pacific Western University)取得了博士学位。

【加州理工说对唐骏是否曾经在那里做过研究的说法无法评论。西太平洋大学后来改了名称；它的学籍办公室没法马上被联系上发表评论。】

《我的成功可以复制》的出版商在声明中说，唐骏曾明确要求删除他获得加州理工大学学位的句子，但由于出版方编校过程中沟通出现滞后，2008年12月发行的第一版中未及时进行修改。一个月后进行了更正。出版社的声明向读者和唐骏表示诚挚歉意。

【但是方舟子和中国媒体继续对准唐骏，质疑他的其他履历的真实性问题。美国政府问责局在2004年发布的一份报告中，西太平洋大学被美国政府称为“文凭制造厂”，将它列为不要求上课、根据一次性收费颁发学位的未经认证的机构之一。该报道说，在当时西太平洋大学的博士学位的费用为2595美元。】

【西太平洋大学后来改名加州米拉马大学。加州米拉马大学的学生服务办公室说它受到新的管理，把自己视为另一个实体。加州米拉马大学说它现在已获得认证。】

【唐骏在7月6日发的一条微博说，他计划在他的名片上加印一个博士在名字后，并说“我还是我，什么都没改变”。】

Chinese Debate Allegations of Fraudulent Credentials
BEIJING—Accusations that a prominent former Microsoft Corp. executive in China distorted his academic credentials have triggered a heated public discussion in the country over what experts say is pervasive academic fraud.

The controversy began earlier this month after Fang Shimin, a science writer known for his vocal criticism of plagiarism and academic fraud, claimed that Jun Tang, who was president of Microsoft’s China operation from 2002 to 2004, had falsely claimed to have earned a doctorate from the California Institute of Technology. Mr. Fang said he had tried to check the claim, which he said was made in one edition of Mr. Tang’s popular book “My Success Can Be Copied,” by calling the university but that he couldn’t find records of Mr. Tang having graduated. A representative for Caltech, reached Thursday, said Mr. Tang didn’t graduate from the school.

Mr. Tang has denied making the claim about Caltech, telling Chinese media that he graduated from another university. A July 8 statement by the book’s publishers, Citic Publishing House and Blue Lion Financial Planning Center, said Mr. Tang’s co-author was responsible for the error and that Mr. Tang—who is now chief executive of a company called New Huadu Industrial Group Co. that invests in retail, real estate and other companies—personally requested that the reference to the school be removed. The co-author couldn’t be reached to comment.

Mr. Tang couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday. He didn’t answer his cellphone. A receptionist at his company said he was traveling.

The controversy has become one of the hottest topics of discussion among Chinese Internet users, spurring a whirlwind of local media coverage. Some Internet users have dubbed the incident “Fake Diploma-Gate.” It follows other high-profile cases in recent years of alleged academic fraud that have called attention to what experts say is a pervasive problem in China, not least for businesses trying to confirm the background of potential hires.

Tad Kageyama, a Hong Kong-based senior managing director at Kroll, a New York-based risk consulting subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Cos., said part of the reason for falsified résumés is a fixation among employers in China, as elsewhere in Asia, on the prestige of schools that candidates attend rather than valuing candidates’ experiences. That emphasis, combined with the relative ease of acquiring illegitimate diplomas in China, is part of the reason that résumé fraud is more common China than elsewhere.

Kevin Zhao, chief human-resources consultant at Beijing-based Finder Hunter, said a lack of readily available public information has led to lower rates of background checks by employers in China, providing further incentive for fraud. Most companies in China don’t check references while hiring employees because of the difficulty, he said. The phenomenon of fake diplomas is indicative of a wider social problem in China, he added. Companies shouldn’t “simply emphasize diplomas [prestigious in name] and neglect quality-oriented education.”

Mr. Fang, who uses the pen name Fang Zhouzi when blogging, said résumé fraud rates are much higher in China than elsewhere. In an e-mail to The Wall Street Journal, he said he targeted Mr. Tang because “Mr. Tang is not an ordinary businessman. He is an ‘idol of young people.’ ” As a result of his allegations, he said, “There are a lot of discussions about the lacking of integrity in Chinese society….Isn’t this a good trend toward a healthier society?”

Mr. Tang told the state-run China Daily newspaper he had never said he graduated from Caltech. “I only said I had done some research there,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “Instead, I got my doctor’s degree at the California-based Pacific Western University.”

Caltech said it was unable to comment on whether Mr. Tang had done research there. Pacific Western later changed its name; its records office wasn’t immediately reachable for comment.

Mr. Tang’s publishers said in their statement that Mr. Tang had “explicitly requested a deletion of the sentence” that said he earned the Caltech degree, but that the revision wasn’t made in time for the book’s first edition, published in December 2008, because of “a lag in communication during the proofreading process.” The correction was made a month later. The publishers’ statement expressed “sincere apologies” to readers and to Mr. Tang.

But Mr. Fang and Chinese media have continued to target Mr. Tang, raising questions about the authenticity of other credentials. Pacific Western University was labeled a “diploma mill” by the U.S. government in a report published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office in 2004, which listed the school as an unaccredited institution that awarded degrees for a flat fee and required no classroom instruction. The report said a doctorate from Pacific Western cost $2,595 at the time.

Pacific Western University later changed its name to California Miramar University. California Miramar’s student services office said it is under new management and considers itself a separate entity. California Miramar said it now is accredited .

Mr. Tang, in a message dated July 6 on his blog, said he plans to print his doctorate credentials beside his name on his business cards, and said “I am still me, and nothing has changed.”

—Kersten Zhang and Gao Sen in Beijing and Bai Lin in Shanghai contributed to this article.
Write to Loretta Chao at loretta.chao@wsj.com

Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit
www.djreprints.com
More In World EmailPrinter FriendlyOrder Reprints