KMT slams Chen's plan for inquiry

KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) yesterday lashed out at President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for engaging in a "vicious struggle" against the KMT, following Chen's suggestion of a thorough investigation of the KMT's assets.

In the past, a large number of those assets are widely believed to have been improperly transferred from the government to the former ruling party. The KMT claims its assets to be worth NT$70 billion but the DPP has estimated that the value might be as much as double that amount.

Responding strongly to Chen's proposal during a weekly meeting of the KMT's Central Standing Committee, Lien said it rarely happens in a democratic country that the head of state openly defames and attacks an opposition party on such a formal occasion.

Lien said the behavior was especially hard to understand since it took place when the DPP was trying to create an atmosphere of inter-party cooperation ahead of the meeting of the cross-party advisory board on economic development to be held later this month.

"This is the most typical of the kind of vicious political struggle going on in Taiwan," Lien said. He said Chen should explain to the public on what basis the allegation was made and according to what law the KMT's assets should be subject to a thorough investigation.

Agreeing with Lien, Legislative Yuan Speaker and KMT Vice Chairman Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said the DPP's move would only exacerbate inter-party confrontation.

Chen reportedly made the remarks concerning the KMT assets on Tuesday when he received a group of DPP lawmakers at the Presidential Office.

During the meeting, some of the lawmakers proposed that authorities concerned conduct a thorough investigation of the KMT's assets, recover those that were illegally obtained, and transfer them to a fund intended for vocational training for the unemployed.

According to the lawmakers, Chen responded positively to the proposal, saying that this would be an important issue during the year-end legislative elections.

The lawmakers cited Chen as having said that the KMT's assets should be thoroughly investigated and returned to where they belong, no matter whether they were illegally obtained from the private or the public sector.

The KMT, however, maintained that it has legal ownership of all its assets.

Chang Che-shen (張哲深), chairman of the KMT's Administration and Management Committee, said the party had accountants and lawyers complete a scrutiny of its assets earlier this year before they were put into a trust, and they were determined to have been obtained legally.

Chang said most of the KMT's assets have been purchased legally.

Even those that were taken over from the Japanese colonial government in the 1940s were handed over according to proper administrative procedures, he said.

In response to the KMT's strong reaction yesterday, officials at the Presidential Office said that the president had not raised the issue on his own accord, but had only made the remarks in response to lawmakers' questions.

Meanwhile, Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), chief executive of the DPP legislative caucus, said the proposal to investigate the KMT's assets was the opinion of individual lawmakers and has commonly been a plank for DPP candidates in their election campaign platforms.

Tsai said the proposal was never intended to damage the atmosphere of inter-party cooperation.