Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday admitted to having taken money from a Chinese official while running in the KMT chairmanship election.
Ma, however, denied that he knew anything about the official position of Zhou Yiqing (周亦卿), who is a standing member of Shanghai City's Political Affairs Committee.
Ma said that he became acquainted with Zhou about four or five years ago in Hong Kong, but did not know his official title. But Ma admitted that Zhou, a member of his Hong Kong and Macao support group, purchased a NT$20,000 (US$645) T-shirt during a campaign rally in the run-up to the KMT's chairmanship poll.
"Do you think he is obliged to tell me everything, including his job title, when we meet?" he asked reporters who doubted that he didn't know Zhou's identity.
He then criticized the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for enjoying giving him a "red hat," or linking him with China's Communist Party.
Later last night, Ma denied that any money from Zhou went to his chairmanship campaign. Ma said that the money went to his support group in Hong Kong and Macao and "not a single penny of the money has been diverted to or used in Taiwan."
Ma also took the opportunity to defend the TV station TVBS, whose shareholder structure is questioned by the Government Information Office (GIO).
Ma said that the crux of the problem is simple and clear. According to the Satellite Broadcasting Law (衛星廣播電視法), Ma said that direct foreign investment in a satellite TV station cannot exceed 50 percent and that "TVBS' foreign capital is less than 50 percent. It's that simple," he said.
If the government wants all of the station's owners to be Taiwanese, they should amend the law, Ma said.
Ma made the remarks in response to criticism from the DPP earlier yesterday morning. The caucus alleged that Zhou doubles as a board member of the Hong Kong-based television station TVB, an affiliate of Taiwan's TVBS.
DPP Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung (
"I'd like to know what kind of T-shirt is worth NT$20,000," he said.
The Civic Society Law stipulates that political parties cannot accept any donation from a foreign group, individual or organization whose important members are foreigners. Violators are subject to a two-year jail term or a fine of up to NT$60,000.
DPP caucus whip William Lai (
Lai also requested prosecutors to step in immediately and conduct a thorough probe into the matter.
Meanwhile, the DPP caucus yesterday demanded that Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) apologize for "lying" about his public service and called on him to withdraw from the Taichung City mayoral election.
Lai said that Hu lied on his pension application when he said he had worked for the KMT between 1975 and 1985, when actually he was studying in the UK.
While the executive order allowing party members to count the years they worked for the KMT toward their employment in the civil service was abolished in 1988, Lai said that Hu still counted the years he served at a KMT-affiliated organization toward his civil service time.
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