The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which has long been attacked over its ill-gotten wealth, will release a report on its assets on Wednesday, but pan-green lawmakers said the problem won't be solved until the KMT returns its stolen assets to the country.
"Nobody really knew how the party managed its assets in the past. Through the report, we will make the ins-and-outs of our assets transparent," KMT caucus whip Tsai Chin-lung (
Tsai said the report will include a detailed balance sheet from which people can learn about the party's businesses and assets under each KMT chairman.
Tsai quoted the report as saying that former president Lee Teng-hui (
According to Tsai, the report said that Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had earned the KMT NT$10 billion by disposing of assets -- which many detractors consider laundering stolen property -- and used the income for the party's retirement fund.
Ma has been accused by some of selling the party's land on the cheap after he succeeded Lien Chan (連戰) as chairman in July last year.
"The preliminary estimate in the report is that the asset value is NT$27.7 billion. However, considering retirement pensions, loans made by party-run businesses and unrealized losses on investments, the net asset value is only about NT$6 billion," Tsai said.
The report will be released during the KMT's Central Standing Committee meeting on Wednesday.
Ma said previously that the party would unveil all of its assets in an open, transparent and comprehensive manner, and would not try to hide from any questions.
The KMT took over countless assets from the Japanese colonial government and private businesses and individuals when it took control of Taiwan, which its rivals describe as theft.
Commenting on the issue, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) said that merely making the disposition of the assets transparent was not good enough.
"Given that these party assets are stolen, the KMT should return the remaining assets to the country and people and return the money for assets it has sold to third parties," Yeh said, adding that KMT should tell the people how it had spent its wealth.
The Ministry of Finance has asked the KMT to hand over 144.51 hectares of real estate -- with a market value of NT$21.9 billion -- but the KMT has returned only 1.86 hectares, a mere 1.29 percent of the total, the ministry's statistics showed.
The KMT, however, argues that all of its assets were lawfully obtained, and says it has legal documentation to prove the legitimacy of the assets.
DPP Spokesman Tsai Huang-liang (
In a bid to pressure the KMT to return its stolen party assets, the DPP is planning to present a signed petition to the Central Election Commission (CEC) for review on Wednesday to pave the way for a national referendum on reclaiming the KMT's improperly acquired assets.
"The reason that we picked Wednesday to present the petition to the CEC is that we would like to raise public awareness of the long-standing issue," he said.
Tsai Huang-liang said that he hoped the CEC would complete the review process of the petition within a month so they can launch the second stage of the signature campaign.
"We hope to gather 830,000 signatures by the end of the year," he said.
"Our goal is to hold the national referendum next year in tandem with the year-end legislative election," Tsai added.
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) yesterday threw his backing behind the DPP's campaign, saying that the KMT should return its stolen party assets and that the legislature should pass a party assets law.
Lin also called on the KMT to be grateful to Lee for institutionalizing the disposition of the party's assets, rather than blaming the former president for losing money to bad investment.
TSU Legislator Lo Chih-ming (
"The management of party assets under Lee's leadership was not his prerogative, but a collective decision. In addition, not all party-run businesses made losses in Lee's time," Lo said.
"I think people care more about how Ma sold the party's assets one after another on the cheap and benefited big businesses. The report should address this part," Lo added.
Meanwhile, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"While there were some party-run businesses running in the red during Lee's time, Lee collected at least NT$70 billion to NT$80 billion for the party," Wang said.
"When the nation was encountering a bubble economy and a financial crisis, some party resources were used by Lee to pull troubled companies through their difficulties. It would be a one-sided conclusion to just say how much of a loss Lee had made," he said.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS