Lien vows to put assets into trust

Vice President Lien Chan's (3s戰) lawyer says Lien has no problems with putting his personal assets into a trust fund if he is elected President.

James Tseng (曾宗延), also a national policy advisor to the President, made the comments yesterday to a group of 200 Lien campaign staffers on issues regarding Lien's assets and related taxation.

During the opening ceremony of the KMT's campaign headquarters last Sunday, Lien proposed that the party's assets be placed in trust, a notion that has since drawn great attention in political circles as well as from the public.

Since the financial scandal surrounding James Soong (宋楚瑜) broke, many have been calling for public accountability in regard to the personal assets of other presidential candidates.

Tseng said Lien would like to put his assets in trust after the Enterprise Trust Law is established. He said the vice president is sincere about making his assets transparent, as he has already put his and his family's assets in the hands of professional lawyers and accountants.

Tseng also clarified recent allegations regarding the legality of Lien's financial transactions over the past several years. He said that Lien's donation of NT$200 million to relief funds for victims of the 921 earthquake had come from his own personal assets, not from party campaign funds.