Chinese tycoon and philanthropist Chen Guangbiao (陳光標) arrived in Taiwan last night to begin a controversial “thanksgiving” tour that will see him hand over hundreds of millions of NT dollars.
Chen and a 47-member delegation are set to visit Taipei, and Hsinchu, Nantou and Hualien counties over the next six days, with pledges to give out an estimated NT$500 million (US$17.2 million) to impoverished Taiwanese.
New Taipei City (新北市) and Taoyuan County rejected conditions for the handouts, which reportedly include busing recipients to municipal offices to thank Chen personally for the gifts.
There was no indication that any Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-governed municipalities were contacted as part of the trip, which has been labeled by the DPP as having a political agenda.
Chen, who made his fortune by recycling construction materials, is no stranger to controversy.
He has called his trip a response to the goodwill shown by Taiwanese during earthquakes in China over the past two years.
His glitzy ways have, however, been called “over the top” by municipal officials anxious to avoid a repeat of an appearance in Nanjing last week where he made 15 million yuan (US$2.28 million) into a “cash wall” before giving it away.
On a call-in program on TVBS News on Tuesday night, the 42-year-old caused anger when he said he hoped critics of his visit would “go and learn some Marxist ideas.”
Local media reported that, Chen, ranked No. 223 on Forbes’ list of richest Chinese, plans to hand out 50,000 red envelopes, each containing NT$10,000 in cash. Some of the money was also contributed by other leading Chinese industrialists.
Mixed information from city and county governments has suggested that Chen originally expected recipients to be bused to municipal offices where he could hand over the money personally.
He will, however, allow the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China to accept his NT$3 million donation in Hualien County, after Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) said there was no way to choose between 3,000 disadvantaged households.
Hsinchu County Government’s education bureau will receive a check on behalf of the recipients, while Nantou County Government will comply with Chen’s request to bus recipients to county offices. In Taipei, Chen will hold a dinner at the Grand Hotel where he plans to hand out money to 600 people.
His plans have drawn concerns that he has failed to consider recipients’ rights to respect and privacy. Critics have also said there is no way to fairly decide who should get money.
Some non-profit organizations have also said donations should be handled through social welfare groups better equipped to deal with disadvantaged people.
Politicians, meanwhile, said they hoped to see the entire matter handled in a more “low-profile” manner.
DPP lawmakers said Chen was in Taiwan for more than simply business and charity work.
“I want to remind the Taiwanese people that Chen is only in Taiwan to help Beijing engage in its unification efforts,” said DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津), apparently referring to Chen’s “Marxist” comments and the text embossed on his red envelopes, which says “the Chinese race is one family (中華民族一家親).”
Chen is due to make donations in Hsinchu County tomorrow, Nantou County and Taipei on Saturday and Hualien County on Sunday. He is also expected to visit the Taipei Flora Expo the day before his departure on Tuesday.
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole
RSS