Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of making NT$580 million (US$18.4 million at the current exchange rate) on the sale of land to the National Women’s League of the Republic of China in 1999.
The league purchased a 501 ping (1,656m2) property on Linsen S Road from the KMT’s Women’s Affairs Committee in 1964.
Chen presented a file showing that 414 ping of the land was registered under the Army Command Headquarters, while the remaining 87 ping belonged to the National Property Administration.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The land was worth NT$10,000 per ping at the time and the KMT purchased the land at that rate, buying the entire property for NT$5 million, which it paid in installments over 18 years, he said.
Even if NT$1.5 million paid to the Army Command Headquarters for use of the land is included, the KMT spent NT$6.5 million to get 400 ping of land in the center of Taipei, Chen said.
Chen said the KMT sold the land at a high price — NT$1.19 million per ping — to the league’s Social Welfare Foundation in 1999.
The 1964 decision by the then-KMT government — which said the land was unsuitable for military use — to say the buildings belonged to the league, as it had established a housing complex for women at the site, was a ruse to sell the land to the league, he said.
The KMT government at the time is suspected of coercing the league into buying the land, Chen said, adding that his report showed official notices issued to the league for them to buy the land.
Chen urged the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee to launch an investigation into the matter.
Committee spokeswoman Shih Chin-fang (施錦芳) said the situation was a classic example of a national asset turned into a party asset.
The committee is gathering information and will launch an investigation into the league after it wraps up a probe of the China Youth Corps, Shih said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft