The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday asked the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to apologize to the public and return the money it owes the Bank of Taiwan, while the KMT said the delay in repayment has been caused by its dire financial straits.
TSU Legislator Chen Chien-ming (
However, as the party has not been remitting the money for the 16.5 percent interest payments to the bank since the March 20 presidential election, it now owes the bank a total of NT$300 million (US$8.64 million) for the KMT officials' deposits.
Chen questioned why the KMT officials enjoy such a premium rate when the average person only gets around 1.5 percent for a one-year term deposit.
He urged the KMT to face the issue squarely, apologize to the people soon, and return the due interest payments.
In response to reports that the bank plans to seek repayment from the KMT and wants to terminate its contract with the party, a KMT official said the party is coordinating with the bank on repaying the money.
Lin Yung-jui (林永瑞), deputy director of the KMT administrative management committee, said the party and the bank are discussing how the money should be repaid. Lin also said that there were no plans to terminate the contract.
Liu Chien-sung (
Liu said that the NT$300 million is only the "tip of the iceberg" of the party's financial difficulties, noting that the KMT officials who retired in August have yet to get their retirement payments, while those who retired in September were asked to wait for the payments, with no interest payments during the waiting period.
The TSU also pointed out the problem of veterans claiming subsidies they were not entitled to.
Due to negligence on the part of Veterans Affairs Commission officials, Chen said 6,700 unqualified veterans have received a monthly stipend of NT$13,550, or around NT$180,000 a year for more than a decade, resulting in a loss of NT$12.2 billion to the national coffers.
Chen asked the commission to review the situation, seek to return the money, and punish the negligent officials over the matter.
The commission said that the number of veterans on the subsidy list for next year has already been cut.
They said that with veterans aging and dying, and with some others who no longer require subsidies, there will be just 98,000 veterans on next year's lists, 6,700 less than this year.
The officials said the commission regularly checks the status of the veterans and will stop subsidies once their lives are improved. The commission will ask veteran service centers and nursing homes to step up verification of the conditions of the veterans.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique