The KMT yesterday said PFP Chairman James Soong (
"The Chung Hsing Bills Finance case has nothing to do with Soong," said head of the KMT Administration and Management Committee Chang Che-chen (張哲琛) at a press conference yesterday. "The misunderstanding between the party and Soong over this matter is now over and comes to a close."
Held at the KMT's headquarters, the purpose of the press conference was to clarify accusations the party once made against Soong over his alleged embezzlement.
The accusation was made three years ago when Soong was expelled from the KMT for running his own maverick campaign in the 2000 presidential elections. Soong, who ran as an independent, obtained 36 percent of the vote, while Lien, the KMT candidate, came in at a distant third with 23 percent.
During the campaign, the KMT filed a lawsuit against Soong, accusing him of embezzling large sums from party coffers during his tenure as the party's secretary-general. After the election, prosecutors said there wasn't enough evidence to try the Chung Hsing Bills Finance case and the KMT dropped the charges.
It was during that time that the KMT ran a series of negative advertisements targeting Soong's credibility.
"The KMT is deeply sorry for having caused any inconvenience or damage to Soong because of remarks made by KMT officials during the [2000] presidential election," Chang said.
Chang explained Soong's alleged embezzlement by saying that the transactions Soong was involved entailed funds entrusted to Soong by former party chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) to perform various task on the party's agenda.
With regard to another accusation made by the party during the 2000 presidential campaign that Soong had embezzled government money while serving as Taiwan provincial governor, Chang explained that the accusation "was a result of being unfamiliar with government financial allocation procedure."
Chang said that the party's accusation against Soong with regard to embezzlement "has all been a result of misunderstanding."
"The KMT hereby makes the clarification to clear Soong's name and hopes that both parties can let bygones be bygones and move ahead in good faith to work together for a better tomorrow for Taiwan," Chang said.
Media speculation suggests that the KMT made the effort to clear Soong's name as a peace offering to Soong to get him to agree with the KMT's preference for fielding KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) as the presidential candidate.
Denying that the clarification of Soong's charges was motivated by next year's presidential elections, Chang stressed that the only reason behind the party's motive to make the gesture was to let the truth be known.
On behalf of Soong, Chen Cheng-sheng (
Chen said that "Soong has never embezzled a dime from the KMT nor the government and is glad that the KMT's remarks have cleared his name which had been tarnished by the party's previous accusations."
Chen added that "Soong is willing to let bygones be bygones and will now move ahead with his eyes focused, not on the past, but on the future."
Also see story:
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
Taiwan must invest in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to keep abreast of the next technological leap toward automation, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said at the luanch ceremony of Taiwan AI and Robots Alliance yesterday. The world is on the cusp of a new industrial revolution centered on AI and robotics, which would likely lead to a thorough transformation of human society, she told an event marking the establishment of a national AI and robotics alliance in Taipei. The arrival of the next industrial revolution could be a matter of years, she said. The pace of automation in the global economy can
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,