Lien says trust is correct `first step'

Vice president and KMT presidential hopeful Lien Chan (3s戰) gave more details of a plan to put the KMT's billions of dollars worth of assets in trust yesterday, a week after he first announced the plan.

Lien declined to say when the party would announce the total amount of its assets or put them into trust. The transfer of assets was dependent on the legislature's passing certain key laws, he said, including the the Trust Enterprise Law and the Law Governing Political Parties.

Both laws should be passed before the end of February, Lien said, adding that amendments to taxation laws may also have to be made before the transfer of party assets could take place.

"This sector [laws regulating political parties] doesn't yet exist under the law," he said.

Lien said "the issue [of putting the KMT's assets into a trust] has already generated a strong consensus, showing that I have made a ... step in the right direction, therefore, I should continue to walk along this road."

"In principle, as long as the property is owned by the KMT, we[the party] will put those assets into a trust," Lien said.

"If it is a company controlled by the KMT with a majority stake, it is to be entrusted entirely. If the KMT holds a minority share in a company, the party will either entrust it shares, or sell the shares and entrust the money," Lien said.

Lien also sternly denied recent rumors that his relationship with President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) had turned sour.

"Over the past decade, while implementing major reforms with Lee, he would always give me his full support'' Lien said.

Furthermore, Lien reminded the public to never under-estimate Lee's determination to push forward the reform.

"Lee is regarded as `Mr Democracy' by the foreign media, the man who lead Taiwan into becoming a democratic country. Do you expect such a leader to remain silent over the subject of party assets?'' Lien said.

He said his idea of putting party assets into trust was the result of deep thinking after hosting the National Development Conference at the end of 1996.

"Although the process of advice-seeking was long and comprehensive, the final decision was made by myself," Lien said.

One Lien campaign official said, however, that instead of giving details of Lien's trust plan, yesterday's event was deliberately arranged to steal the limelight from independent presidential candidate James Soong's (宋楚瑜) big campaign rally at Taipei's Chungshan Stadium.

"Soong's camp needed to mobilize thousands of supporters to build up momentum. On the contrary, Lien was able to compete single-handedly with their rally," said Chen Shei-saint (3紋Кt), one of Lien's campaign spokespersons.

Lien took the opportunity at a press conference last night and during campaign visits to Hsinchu and Miaoli counties to attack Soong, calling candidates who operate outside of political parties "unbranded" (沒|3品牌的) and "lacking responsibility."

According to results of an opinion poll conducted by Global TV and The Journalist magazine released yesterday, more than 50 percent of respondents supported entrusting the KMT's assets to a professional institutional manager.

Ironically, over 44 percent of respondents said, however, that they doubted Lien could make good on his promise.

In reply, Lien said he has noticed this phenomenon and pleaded with the public to trust him.