Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) yesterday expressed regret after allegations that his son had obtained a special permit from China to sell steel, saying he had asked his family to reduce business ties with China after taking office.
The SEF issued a statement yesterday afternoon saying that his son’s business did not require any special permit from the Chinese government. Although his son’s company won a contract to represent China’s state-owned steel company, it did not need a special permit because any private company can sell the products. Besides, Chiang said, the contract expired in January and was not renewed, he said.
The office in Shanghai is closed and he had asked his family to decrease business ties with China since he took office, he said.
Chiang said he knew very little about his son’s business and rarely asked about it. He also said that he had not used his position to secure any business deals for his son.
The statement said Chiang had resigned from a joint venture and a foundation to avoid any conflict of interest.
He said he hoped the media would be more supportive of him and the cross-strait negotiation team.
Chiang also dismissed a report published in yesterday’s Chinese-language China Times claiming that Chiang was tired of his job and might quit after the upcoming cross-strait talks with his Chinese counterpart, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
Chiang said he was not tired and that his top priority was his meeting with Chen.
Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) said yesterday she was not aware of any reshuffle and had nothing to say about the criticism directed at Chiang.
She said, however, that Chiang was not a “policymaker” or “negotiator” in cross-strait affairs, but rather the “executor” of the council’s policy and that the Chiang issue was therefore “irrelevant.”
Chiang’s quitting the two positions did not mean there were problems, she said, adding that he had not made personal gains from the six agreements Taipei signed with Beijing.
Lai said that both sides are scheduled to hold a preparatory meeting in Taipei on Saturday to discuss the time and place of the Chiang-Chen talks. She said it was possible that both sides would hold a second preparatory meeting.
Both sides had agreed at their last meeting that the next one would be held outside Beijing, while Taipei has proposed that it be held in Nanjing. While the upcoming meeting is scheduled for next month or in June, Lai has said that it would be held sooner rather than later if both sides could reach a consensus on the matter.
While some people have expressed concern over the possibility of protests during the preparatory meeting, Lai said she believed the public would be rational and act with maturity.On whether the two sides would address the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), MAC Deputy Minister Fu Don-cheng (傅棟成) said he hoped it would be a “talking point” at the upcoming Chiang-Chen meeting, provided both sides reached a consensus.
If both sides are interested in the topic, the council will follow up by authorizing the SEF before the Chiang-Chen meeting, he said.
On the allegations surrounding Chiang’s son, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) said yesterday: “If this situation occurred in any other country, the official would have to step down.”
It was “unbelievable” that Ma would use a person with business interests in China to represent the country in dealing with Beijing, Gao said, adding that Taiwan’s interests might have been harmed.
Gao said it was no surprise that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government was rushing to sign an ECFA with Beijing because such a treaty would help it make large sums of money.
DPP caucus whip Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) said Ma should remove Chiang from his position, as Taiwanese could no longer trust him.
At a separate setting, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said the government should clarify whether the Chiang family’s business in China posed a conflict of interest.
Officials at the National Security Council, the MAC and the SEF should be investigated, Tsai said.
At a press conference, KMT caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) urged the DPP not to discredit Chiang.
“They should stop sullying the name of a person who has devoted himself to serving the nation,” Lin said.
Lin said the DPP’s criticism was unreasonable as “by DPP logic, family members of a company chairman should all be barred from working for a company and depend on [the chairman] for a living.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
RSS