Legislator blames Taipei Society for threatening safety

PFP Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) yesterday strongly protested what he called a threat to his safety and that of his family after the balance of his savings account was made public on Sunday in a review of legislators' assets conducted by the Taipei Society (澄社).

The private watchdog group, which drew its information from the disclosure reports of public functionaries issued by the Control Yuan, listed Chiu as the legislator with most savings at NT$80 million.

An angry Chiu yesterday said he could not let his wife and children go to work and school as usual anymore for fear that they would be kidnapped.

"I disclosed my assets to the Control Yuan honestly according to the law, but the information is now becoming a tool for the Taipei Society to put on a show," Chiu said.

The freshman legislator said that the worth of his assets has not changed much since he became a legislator as most of them were obtained prior to his election.

Chiu said he will demand that Premier Yu Shyi-kun and Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) work out some measures to protect the safety of politicians subject to the Public Functionary Assets Disclosure Law (公職人員財產申報法).

Responding to Chiu's concerns, Taipei Society Chairman Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華) said he understands the lawmaker's fears but sees them as illogical.

"If disclosing assets makes someone a target for kidnappers, what about business tycoons? Doesn't Forbes always publicize its ranking of the world's wealthiest people?" Ku said.

Ku added that the Control Yuan's financial disclosure reports are open to the public and that people can easily obtain the information from the Control Yuan, even if the Taipei Society does not make it public.

Ku said the group will not change its practice despite Chiu's complaints and will continue to monitor legislators.

Furthermore, disclosing the assets of politicians is a commonly accepted practice in democratic countries, Ku said.

According to the Taipei Society's review, 32 legislators have savings of over NT$10 million, while 67 others have listed their savings at less than NT$1 million.

However, as the law exempts a public functionary from disclosing his or her savings when they are less than NT$1 million, the savings of 35 legislators are unknown.

Meanwhile, 12 legislators have reported assets worth over NT$100 million, including savings and properties, and 12 others listed assets worth between NT$50 million and NT$100 million.