Hsieh, nevertheless, said that Liu did help expand the party's businesses to their maximum levels at the time, although some charge that illicit conduct was involved.
"The money he earned for the party was mostly from the stock market, which he had often been suspected of manipulating. He tended to make remarks to boost the public's confidence, but the remarks later appeared to be connected to insider trading with a certain consortium," a banking and finance professor at the National Taiwan University Huang Der-yeh (
Among KMT officials, the scholar-turned-politician Liu is probably the only one who knows exactly how much the party is worth, serving as Lee's right hand man to build up the party's black and gold empire.
During Lee's 12-year rule, Liu also served as one of Lee's economic advisors, attending Lee's weekly economic meetings and participating in government policy-making. At those meetings, Lee and his brain trust masterminded economic policies such as the "go south" policy (
Liu, in addition, served as Lee's secret US envoy, hiring Cassidy & Associates, a firm also used by Beijing, to lobby the White House for Lee's 1995 Cornell visit.
At an alleged cost of US$3.5 million, the trip triggered a controversy over Liu's influence, which not only frustrated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was effectively cut out of the loop on the arrangements. He was later branded the "underground foreign minister."
Lee, however, gave his approval to Liu's efforts to enhance Taiwan's international exposure and break Taiwan's diplomatic isolation.
In terms of Liu's leadership style, an insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Liu had a fondness for the grandiose (好大喜功) and has trouble maintaining his objectivity as a banker when party business is involved.
"He's also a pliable and credulous person given the right circumstances, who carries political burdens so heavily that he has trouble separating his duties as a banker from his political affiliations," the insider said.
As a person, Liu's a man of amazing contrasts and has a great sense of humor. He is a faithful Buddhist, who, however, frequents nightclubs, which he says are the best places for testing his skills in meditation and his moral fortitude.
His noted expertise on economic affairs once prompted him to veto the national pension policy, putting down his disapproval to concerns that the government would end up subsidizing business tycoon Wang Yung-ching (王永慶), who he said would be an eligible elder and "a rich begger (
He has been so angry at the media that he has openly labeled reporters "pigs," but the media have never been annoyed enough to lose interest.
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