Independent presidential candidate James Soong (
Ma Yi-kung (
The Control Yuan is the watchdog agency charged with overseeing government officials. As former provincial governor, Soong no longer holds any official post, and it is therefore not mandatory for him to answer the summons.
"It is an opportunity for Soong to clarify his situation," Ma said. "Soong should not give up his rights."
But Soong said his sister-in-law and financial advisor Chen Pi-yun (
"I respect the Control Yuan, but Chen has already made everything clear," Soong said yesterday. "Chen will go to the Control Yuan to clarify her explanations again, if necessary," he said.
A statement released by Soong's campaign office added that the independent candidate would be willing to provide answers in written form if further explanation is still necessary.
The statement said that Soong's intention was not to evade questioning.
"The results of the official investigation must be kept secret. If Soong does go the Control Yuan, people with their own agenda will inevitably create rumors [as to his reported answers] to smear him. Then his showing up will not only result in no clarification of fact, but may actually further cloud the truth," the statement said.
Allegations of Soong's financial scandal surfaced mid-December when KMT legislator Yang Chi-hsiung (楊吉雄) accused Soong and his family of involvement in irregular money transactions involving sums of hundreds of million of NT dollars.
The Control Yuan later established a task force to investigate Soong over possible violation of the Election and Recall Law (
The task force was set up after the 21-member government watchdog body questioned Minister of Finance Paul Chiu (邱正雄) over the finding of an investigation by his ministry into the financial affairs of Soong and his family.
After Soong's election campaign for the now-defunct post of Taiwan Provincial Governor in 1994, he filed a declaration of election expenditure amounting to exactly the NT$104.98 million the Election and Recall Law allows.
Soong is also being investigated for violation of the Public Functionary Assets Disclosure Law, under which high-ranking officials and elected representatives must list their financial assets to expose possible bribe-taking.
According to documents held by the Control Yuan, Soong has declared less than NT$10 million in assets. But the Soong camp recently admitted having remitted US$1.9 million (NT$60 million) to the US as "personal travel expenses."
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
Taiwan has signed six arms procurement offers from the US totaling more than NT$208 billion (US$6.59 billion) covering long-range precision strike systems, missile stockpile replenishment and joint production of large-caliber ammunition, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The government’s proposed NT$1.25 trillion special defense budget has been stalled in the Legislative Yuan as opposition lawmakers question the amount and procurement items, while the Presidential Office and defense ministry say that the full amount is necessary to safeguard Taiwan. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) on Monday briefed the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on the defense budget for
RSS