The uproar surrounding the Zanadau scandal has put former KMT lawmaker Wong Chung-chun (翁重鈞) back in the media spotlight.
A four-term legislator and failed candidate for Chiayi County commissioner, Wong has roundly denied any part in an alleged influence-peddling scheme to facilitate construction of the giant Zanadau shopping mall in Kaohsiung County.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
Su Hui-chen (
Su made the revelation to back up her claims that former KMT business affairs manager Liu Tai-ying (
Wong, however, denied the accusations. "Heaven forbid if I had ever got a dime from Su," Wong said later the same day. He urged reporters to check legislative records on his stance over the matter and challenged the businesswoman to identify his former colleagues who reportedly accept bribes from him.
According to Su, Wong helped pass out 10 checks of NT$5 million each to members of a legislative panel that was reviewing the planned sales of Taifertilizer shares in June 1998.
"On Lee's advice, I agreed to placate lawmakers in the hope that Taifertilizer would invest in Zanadau without delay. Investigators can learn their identities by questioning Wong and Lee," said Su, desperate to settle accounts with Liu and Lee.
Legislative records show that Wong and then-DPP lawmaker Chang Chun-hsiung (
"I was firmly against the sale of Taifertilizer at that time," said Wong, who belongs to the Yellow faction of Chiayi County. "That being so, I could not have taken bribes from Su or helped her buy off other lawmakers."
The ad hoc committee drew members from across party lines, including incumbent DPP lawmakers Hong Chi-chang (
But the now cash-strapped Su said those who opposed the privatization of Taifertilizer all took her money. After holding three meetings, the legislative panel decided not to continue the boycott othe state-run company, records show.
Taifertilizer owns 10 percent of the Zanadau venture, a huge complex that spans an 11-hectare commercial zone featuring a golf course and a man-made skiing playground, in addition to the shopping mall.
Insisting he is innocent, Wong called a news conference in the legislature on Wednesday. He said he would do the best he could to help investigators probe the Zanadau case.
"I have never engaged in anything illegal during my 20-year political career," he said in the company of KMT legislative whip Lee Chuan-chia (
He claimed that the biggest beneficiaries of the Zanadau project are DPP members and urged incumbent lawmakers named in the controversy to waive their right to be free from prosecution.
The multibillion-dollar Zanadau venture ran aground when key investors decided to pull out following the transfer of power in 2000 and the ensuing economic downturn.
During his stint as a lawmaker, Wong, 47, devoted himself to budgetary review. In the early 90s, he was a member of the Collective Wisdom Club -- a KMT faction formed by pro-Taiwanization lawmakers.
Former club colleagues include sitting TSU Chairman Huang Chu-wen (
In addition to the bribes passed out to other legislators, Su said she gave Wong an unspecified sum of money via Lee Ming-che. To cover up the bribery, she faked a land deal with Wong in which it appeared that she would buy real estate from Wong. The secret deal, she said, was signed in the back of a Tainan temple in 1998.
But Wong insisted he does not own the real estate at issue. "The land belongs to my older brother," he said. "I did not sign any contract with Su. She cannot taint my reputation with a bunch of unfounded accusations."
With a master's degree in business administration, he was later appointed by the KMT to the board of Chung Hsing Bills Finance Corp through whose accounts PFP Chairman James Soong (
Last year, Wong won the party's nomination to run for Chiayi County commissioner, but lost the race to Chen Ming-wen (
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS