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 (
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a
RSS