The National Women’s League still needs to provide an account of how it used proceeds from a “military benefits tax,” the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday.
“It needs to produce an account of how the military benefits tax proceeds were used, along with declaring any relationship with league assets,” Civil Affairs Department director Lin Ching-chi (林清淇) said.
The tax on imported goods from 1955 to 1989, described by the league as a kind of “patriotic donation,” provided most of its early funding, drawing criticism that the league profited from ties to the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government.
Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) wife Soong Mayling (宋美齡) founded the league and headed it for decades.
Following repeated requests, the league on Friday filed a detailed account of its budget, income and assets, while at the same time announcing plans to donate nearly NT$28 billion (US$909 million) of its NT$38.1 billion in outstanding assets to government agencies and charities.
“It should have been providing reports every year and although it has met requirements for this year, it is still unclear what happened to proceeds from the military benefits tax over the years,” Lin said. “The issue is the relationship between its current capital and tax proceeds. If the money is from tax gains, it needs to return it all to the nation.”
“What is important is opening up league finances and sourcing all of its current assets,” New Power Party Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said. “It should not use promises of donations as a smokescreen to obscure the core issue.”
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
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