President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has pledged several times to divest the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of its assets and donate the proceeds to charity.
This, however, falls far short of the public’s expectations. Returning these stolen assets to the national treasury would be the correct way of displaying how determined the party is to reform.
Since Ma has made it clear that the party will rely on donations for funding in accordance with the Political Donation Act (政治獻金法), he could even win praise by acting with grace and resolving the matter as soon as possible.
Let’s put aside the messy accounts of the three KMT-affiliated companies — China Television Company, Central Pictures Corporation and Broadcasting Corporation of China — because no one understands them. Also, is there anyone who can get his head around what is happening with the party’s NT$20 billion (US$625 million) sale of the Central Investment Holding Co?
After deducting party operation costs of NT$18 billion, the party will be left with only NT$2 billion. Saying that the party will donate this sum to welfare is a complete joke.
Ma pretends he does not know what is going on and plays number games while ignoring public demands for the party to return its assets to the treasury.
For example, initial party estimates show that the KMT needs in excess of NT$1.5 billion a year to cover personnel and associated costs, including about NT$700 million for retirement funds for party members and administration; about NT$600 million to cover the salaries of current staff; and about NT$200 million for miscellaneous costs.
The KMT says it has a three-phase plan for handling party assets and that it expects to complete the sale of Central Investment Holding Co before June. It has also said it will reduce staff in one sweeping move.
Who is interested in the finer details of the KMT’s housekeeping? Citing all these numbers is simply a way of pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes.
Political parties in democratic nations cannot own businesses. This is essential to preventing unfair competition. With the KMT’s advantage as the ruling party, there is no need for them to worry about raising funds.
Following Taiwan’s democratization and economic liberalization, KMT assets have been the focus of widespread criticism. Because of the party’s procrastination, its billions in assets have gradually disappeared thanks to a lack of clear legislation.
In no time, these assets have evaporated; all that remains is the Central Investment Holding Co.
Now the party is getting even craftier and wants us to believe that it only has NT$2 billion to donate to charity after deducting party expenses. Who believes this nonsense?
This is Ma’s second time around as KMT chairman; both times he has promised to return the party’s assets.
There have also been recent reports that he would release a final plan for handling the issue, but these were referring only to a list of principles and guidelines.
So, when the KMT talks about eliminating party assets, it really means liquidating them or shifting them to people or groups with close ties to the KMT and claiming that the party has no more interest in the matter.
The only way to dispel public doubt and handle the issue correctly is to return the money to the treasury.
Lu I-ming is the former publisher and president of Taiwan Shin Sheng Daily News.
Translated by Eddy Chang and Drew Cameron
On May 7, 1971, Henry Kissinger planned his first, ultra-secret mission to China and pondered whether it would be better to meet his Chinese interlocutors “in Pakistan where the Pakistanis would tape the meeting — or in China where the Chinese would do the taping.” After a flicker of thought, he decided to have the Chinese do all the tape recording, translating and transcribing. Fortuitously, historians have several thousand pages of verbatim texts of Dr. Kissinger’s negotiations with his Chinese counterparts. Paradoxically, behind the scenes, Chinese stenographers prepared verbatim English language typescripts faster than they could translate and type them
More than 30 years ago when I immigrated to the US, applied for citizenship and took the 100-question civics test, the one part of the naturalization process that left the deepest impression on me was one question on the N-400 form, which asked: “Have you ever been a member of, involved in or in any way associated with any communist or totalitarian party anywhere in the world?” Answering “yes” could lead to the rejection of your application. Some people might try their luck and lie, but if exposed, the consequences could be much worse — a person could be fined,
Xiaomi Corp founder Lei Jun (雷軍) on May 22 made a high-profile announcement, giving online viewers a sneak peek at the company’s first 3-nanometer mobile processor — the Xring O1 chip — and saying it is a breakthrough in China’s chip design history. Although Xiaomi might be capable of designing chips, it lacks the ability to manufacture them. No matter how beautifully planned the blueprints are, if they cannot be mass-produced, they are nothing more than drawings on paper. The truth is that China’s chipmaking efforts are still heavily reliant on the free world — particularly on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Last week, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) unveiled the location of Nvidia’s new Taipei headquarters and announced plans to build the world’s first large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer in Taiwan. In Taipei, Huang’s announcement was welcomed as a milestone for Taiwan’s tech industry. However, beneath the excitement lies a significant question: Can Taiwan’s electricity infrastructure, especially its renewable energy supply, keep up with growing demand from AI chipmaking? Despite its leadership in digital hardware, Taiwan lags behind in renewable energy adoption. Moreover, the electricity grid is already experiencing supply shortages. As Taiwan’s role in AI manufacturing expands, it is critical that
RSS