The Taipei High Administrative Court yesterday ruled in favor of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), suspending the transfer to the state of Central Investment Co (中央投資公司) and Hsinyutai (欣裕台) shares held by the party.
After the announcement, KMT officials claimed victory in their battle against the Cabinet’s Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee, which is headed by Wellington Koo (顧立雄).
The committee concluded that Central Investment and Hsinyutai are KMT-affiliated organizations and shares valued at about NT$15.6 billion (US$488 million) should be transfered to the state since the companies were founded using illegally obtained assets.
Photo: CNA
The committee had a letter of deposition sent to the KMT last month, giving the party 30 days to comply with the assets transfer. The party filed a court motion to block the request before a final verdict was handed down.
“The shares could be put up for open bidding or passed on to management by a third party,” said Hsu Jui-chu (許瑞助), the presiding judge and spokesman for the Taipei High Administrative Court. “However, if the KMT wins the case, then they would have lost money making the transfer. If the KMT were to be compensated for that loss, it would be a large amount to be settled.”
“If the companies were to be sold or transferred to a third party before a final verdict, then it would lead to complex legal problems, and could result in disputes, which would waste public resources. Therefore, the court has ruled to suspend the transfer of the company’s shares to the state,” Hsu said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Yesterday’s decision can be appealed.
In response to the ruling, Koo said it reaffirmed the committee’s conclusion that the KMT’s shares in the two investment firms were acquired using ill-gotten assets.
Quoting the court’s news release, Koo said that if the committee’s conclusion had been overturned, it would likely create a loophole whereby the two companies could divest themselves of their assets, which would defeat the purpose of the Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例), which is meant to ensure fair competition among political parties, thus improving the nation’s democratic system.
Photo: Huang Hsin-po, Taipei Times
“The KMT should stop benefiting from Central Investment and Hsinyutai. The ruling means that the KMT should neither transfer nor use the shares, effectively freezing them,” Koo said.
As to remarks by KMT Administration and Management Committee director Chiu Da-chan (邱大展) that Koo should stand down from his duties as committee chairman over the ruling, Koo said the media should ask Chiu whether the KMT would accept the court’s affirmation that the KMT shares were illegal assets as defined by the law.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique