The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) last year declared NT$18.9 billion (US$618.54 million) in total assets and remains by far the nation’s richest political party, according to the Ministry of the Interior’s 2017 Political Parties’ Assets and Finances report released yesterday.
The annual report, which is mandated by the Political Party Act (政黨法), aims to make the finances of political parties more transparent, Deputy Minister of the Interior Lin Tzu-ling (林慈玲) said yesterday.
Of the parties that declared their finances, the Democratic Progressive Party was second-richest with NT$769 million in total assets, followed by the New Power Party — founded in January 2015 — with NT$25 million, the People First Party with NT$20 million and the New Party with NT$16 million, the report said.
Photo: Chien Jung-feng, Taipei Times
The Executive Yuan’s Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee in 2016 designated Central Investment Co (中央投資) and its spin-off, Hsinyutai Co (欣裕台), as affiliated organizations of the KMT and froze the two companies’ assets through an administrative order, which the KMT has contested in an ongoing lawsuit.
The two firms were considered the KMT’s most valuable assets in yesterday’s report.
As of last year, Central Investment Co was worth NT$15.4 billion and Hsinyutai NT$200 million, a combined NT$400 million increase from 2015, the report said.
The KMT’s real-estate assets were estimated to be worth NT$910 million, a decrease of NT$9 million from 2015, it added.
The party’s overall expenditures last year totaled NT$2.22 billion, including personnel costs, which comprised the lion’s share of the expenses at NT$1.81 billion, the report said.
The regulations requiring political parties to disclose their finances to the government were drafted in 2006, but they did not initially include punitive measures for noncompliance and their implementation was delayed until last year, because many political parties were small and did not have proper financial records, the ministry said.
All parties were required to declare their assets by May 31, Lin said, but added that as of last month, the ministry had been unable to establish contact with 95 parties, calling on those parties to contact the ministry to safeguard their rights.
The ministry earlier this year vowed to step up efforts to communicate with political parties about the regulations and expectations of conduct under the act, he said.
As of last month, 163 of 301 registered parties had filed declarations, with 95 reports in compliance with the act, Lin said, adding that all parties should submit their final paperwork to the ministry before Jan. 15 next year.
The act stipulates that noncompliance by parties, or a refusal to file a declaration after notification has been served could result in fines of between NT$1 million and NT$5 million, the ministry said.
Parties whose reports require corrections and are not fixed within a given timeframe, or whose corrections have failed to meet ministry standards could face fines of between NT$200,000 and NT$1 million, the ministry said, adding that fines are issued per individual breach.
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