Finally, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
This is no small number: For a father and son to amass NT$1.3 billion during their careers as civil servants is definitely suspicious, but the figure is far less than the wealth they are widely rumored to possess -- wealth that "rivals a nation's." It is no wonder that most people do not believe Lien's disclosure.
The Lien family's assets are not a new issue. Many journals and magazines have offered their estimates. For example, Wealth magazine estimated the family's wealth at NT$15 billion, while the Journalist magazine estimated it at NT$20 billion.
Lien has never written to them to correct the reports. This has given people a feeling that Lien tacitly accepts their estimates.
Of course, Lien could say that these estimates are groundless. But let's look at the "campaign book," published with Lien's blessing, before the 1996 presidential election -- My Heart Always Calm: Lien Chan's Political Path -- and what that book says about the matter. At the opening of Chapter 16 -- titled "Exactly how rich is Lien Chan?" -- is a paragraph containing a clarification:
"We asked a few good friends of Premier Lien for an estimate of the total value of his assets. They said they had not thought about this question, but to resolve the doubts of the outside world, they gave their answers despite themselves. Among the different versions, NT$1 billion or so would be too little while NT$10 billion would be too much. Based on reliable estimates, NT$5 billion to NT$6 billion would be closer," it said.
This paragraph also bears the subtitle "NT$5 billion to NT$6 billion would be closer" and is an excerpt pulled from that chapter.
The figure was not the author's guesswork. Rather, it came from Lien's "good friends" -- note the plural. Certainly they were not trying to incriminate Lien.
On the contrary, it was more likely that they were trying to help Lien cover up his assets. Therefore, the relatively "closer" figure of NT$5 billion to NT$6 billion could only underestimate the true figure.
And anyway, the book was prepared for Lien's election campaign. Obviously it contains only praise for and no criticism of Lien.
The several dozen "valuable photos" in the book were provided, of course, by the Lien family. No one else could have gotten hold of them.
Yeh Ming-hsun (
He writes that he and Lien Chen-tung "visited each other frequently" and their friendship was "full and sincere."
Yeh clearly wrote the preface to boost support for his friend's son. And from this we know that the book had Lien Chan's approval and blessing.
So did the NT$5 billion to NT$6 billion "estimate."
The personal assets disclosed by Lien recently total only NT$1.3 billion. Even Lien's good friends think that figure is "too little," not to mention the general public.
How Lien Chan amassed his wealth is cause for suspicion not only for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) but for voters as well.
Lien seems to believe that he can divert attention and shut out the DPP by targeting President Chen Shui-bian's (
But like his public declaration of his wealth, Lien has probably underestimated the wisdom of the public rather too much.
Chin Heng-wei is the editor in chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.
Translated by Francis Huang
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