The state's highest watchdog body, the Control Yuan, yesterday interviewed former director-general of the National Police Administration Ding Yuan-chin (
In a press conference afterwards, Ding said that the sources of the money which he spent in purchasing the house were all legitimate.
Ding owns a house in a high-class villa community called Vision City (
Last week two New Party Taipei City councilors claimed that Ding purchased the house at half price from the construction firm Hualon Corp (華隆集團). They also said that the price of the house was too high for someone with Ding's salary, that there was no record of Ding having taken out a loan and that his bank savings had not decreased.
There was an obvious implication that Ding was in receipt of undeclared financial assets which may have been acquired illegally.
Control Yuan members Li Shen-yi (
Ding last week released a written statement in which he stated that he was not corrupt. Yesterday at 3pm he made his first public appearance after being accused by the city councilors, taking part in a two-hour interview.
Ding said the price of the Vision City house was NT$325,000 per ping (one ping =3.3m2), not the rumored NT$200,000.
He said this was the market price in 1999, the year he bought the house.
He said the money which he used to buy the house included the profit gained from the sale of an apartment on Taipei's Hsinsheng North Road (
"And the friend is not Ong Da-ming (翁大銘)," he said. Ong is the CEO of the Hualon Corp and the person with whom Ding was rumored to have a financial connection.
The Control Yuan members said that according to their findings, the 106-ping Vision City house cost Ding NT$38.15 million.
As for why Ding's bank savings had not decreased, Ding said that he had borrowed the money from his friend in his son's name, using another apartment in Taipei's Peining Road (北寧路) as collateral.
The Peining Road apartment was also targeted by councilors, but Ding said he bought the apartment for his son in 1988, using money left by his father.
He said he was also planning to sell that apartment.
"That is to say, I am using two apartments to purchase one house," he said.
Li and Chao, meanwhile, said the Control Yuan would continue to investigate and establish the truth as soon as possible.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
RSS