KMT denies link to women's group

The KMT yesterday denied it was responsible for an association that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) accused of obtaining land for its headquarters improperly.

At a DPP summit at Kukuan in central Taiwan on Friday, Chen said that the government should deal with assets improperly obtained by private organizations as well as by political parties.

He said that even assets obtained in a legal manner could still have been acquired improperly, adding that "legal" does not necessarily mean "proper" or "reasonable."

Chen gave the example of the National Women's League (中華婦女聯合會). He said he doubted that the organization had obtained the right to use public land for free through proper channels.

He said the land occupied by the league's headquarters, right behind the Presidential Office, is valuable and that research had showed the land to be public property.

Chen asked whether it was legal, reasonable and proper that the organization had never had to pay rent and that it was assured free use of the location for 100 years.

He also questioned whether it was right that a private organization should be allowed free use of such a prime location.

According to Chen, this was not a question of settling old scores, but rather one of serving justice to the history and people of Taiwan.

The National Women's League was set up in 1950 by Chiang-Soong Mayling (蔣宋美齡), the wife of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), to assist in the construction of veterans' housing, care for the surviving children of soldiers, and build and manage schools, kindergartens and hospitals. The league was also a major gathering point for wives of military, army and KMT personnel.

In a response to Chen's claims, Tsai Cheng-yuan (蔡正元), director of the KMT's Department of Cultural Affairs, said that the league was not a KMT organization.

The league was run by representatives in Taiwan of Chiang-Soong, Tsai said, and the KMT has no influence over its operations.

He added that the KMT has no interest in Chen's latest remarks, and hopes that Chen would direct his efforts towards national affairs instead of running around settling old scores.