Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) apologized yesterday for failing to fully declare his past campaign funds and wiring a large sum overseas, but denied embezzling money from the government.
Chen said that all the money he had ever accepted was for election purposes, adding that his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), was responsible for managing his funds, including any amount left from previous campaigns.
Chen read from a written statement and did not take any questions during a press conference yesterday afternoon, leaving his attorney Richard Lee (李勝琛) to deal with the media after he left.
Chen said his conscience drove him to come out and apologize because he could no longer lie to himself or the public.
“I have done something that is not allowed by the law,” he said. “I owe the public an apology for falsely declaring my campaign funding for the past four Taipei mayoral and presidential elections.”
Chen ran for Taipei mayor in 1994 and won. While he lost his re-election bid in 1998, he moved on to win the presidential election in 2000 and 2004.
Chen said he did not know until earlier this year that Wu had wired some of the funds left from his previous campaigns overseas. After learning of the matter, Chen said he decided to use the money for “international diplomacy” and “other public purposes.”
Chen denied the money had anything to do with the president’s “state affairs fund,” saying he never intended to pocket the money nor did he do so. He added that the money was not tied to the money-losing Taiwan-US joint venture Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp.
He also dismissed allegations that the money was related to the Papua New Guinea (PNG) scandal.
The scandal was exposed in early May when the Central News Agency reported that two brokers hired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) had absconded with NT$1 billion (US$32 million) of ministry cash to be given to the Pacific island country once it agreed to switch allegiance to Taipei.
Then-minister of foreign affairs James Huang (黃志芳) denied any direct involvement in the fund’s disappearance, arguing that the ministry was a victim of two con men. Huang and former National Security Council secretary-general Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), who admitted to introducing one of the brokers to Huang, were forced to resign over the mishap.
Chen yesterday called into question campaign funding declared by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長).
Chen said Ma and Siew claimed they had collected NT$670 million in political donations and still had NT$37 million in leftover funds.
“Do you believe that?” Chen asked. “I believe they have more and I am calling on the Special Investigation Section to look into it.”
Chen also cast doubt on the campaign funding declared by his election rivals in the previous two presidential elections. He said that while he and his running mate Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) declared NT$900 million during the 2000 presidential election, his election rivals — Lien Chan (連戰) and Siew — proclaimed they had NT$310 million.
In the 2004 presidential election, Chen said he and Lu reported NT$1.2 billion. The figure for Lien and James Soong (宋楚瑜) was NT$818 million.
Chen alleged that Soong wired NT$380 million overseas, while former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) used figureheads to transfer about US$1 billion abroad, adding that it was well-known that Lien has investments and property overseas.
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