The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is planning to return seven movie theaters to the state. This is a difficult task as some of them have already been sold, rebuilt or used as security for loans by the KMT. Ministry of Finance officials have taken a hard-line approach and said the party should return either the properties or the money earned from their sale.
According to investigations by the Liberty Times, the seven theaters the KMT has promised to return are the New World Cinema (新世界戲院) in Taipei, the Taichung Cinema (台中戲院), the Chiayi Cinema (嘉義戲院), the Yenping Cinema (延平戲院) in Tainan, the Wanshouhsing Cinema (萬壽星戲院) in Kaohsiung, the Kuanghua Cinema (光華戲院) in Pingdong and the Hsinsheng Cinema (新生戲院) in Ilan.
PHOTO: KUO SHAO-YU, TAIPEI TIMES
The New Century Cinema has been rebuilt. Ownership is still in the hands of the KMT. The theater is built on two parcels of land, one of which has been mortgaged for over NT$1.3 billion. The Taichung Cinema has been sold, and the ownership is complex, as the land is jointly owned by 1,286 people.
The Chiayi Cinema was rebuilt into a commercial building by the KMT-owned Central Motion Picture Corp together with private constructors in 1980, and ownership is complicated.
Tainan's Yenping Cinema has also been rebuilt into a commercial building by the company and other private firms. Ownership of land and building is divided between 185 people.
The Wanshouhsing Cinema in Kaohsiung -- previously known as the Shouhsing Cinema (壽星戲院) -- has also been rebuilt into a commercial building. A few stories have been sold, but the KMT still holds partial ownership.
The Kuanghua Cinema in Pingtung was rebuilt into a high-rise building about two years ago. The land and the building have not been sold, and property rights still belong to the KMT. The Hsinsheng Cinema in Ilan is the only one that has not been rebuilt.
According to Ministry of Finance officials, the National Property Bureau has spent several days investigating the properties and has gathered land parcel numbers and learned the historical development of the seven theaters. It has confirmed that some of the properties have been used as security for loans, while others have been sold. According to the National Property Law (
The KMT says the Central Motion Picture Corp has commissioned Lee Yung-ran (李永然) of Y. R. Lee and Partners to negotiate property return and donations with the bureau, and that everything will be handled by their team of lawyers.
According to a KMT brochure on the handling of party assets, 19 cinemas were transferred from the Japanese colonial government. For three of the cinemas, however, handover procedures were never completed and the Motion Picture Corp took over only 16 cinemas. The company still owns seven of them.
A Motion Picture Corp examination of related documents found that both the Taichung Cinema and the Yenping Cinema were first rented and then purchased from the Taichung and Tainan city governments, respectively. Most of the land where the New Century and Kuanghua cinemas are located was purchased by the Motion Picture Corp. Some of the theaters were jointly rebuilt into high-rises by the company and other organizations.
Claiming it has a high moral standard, the KMT has suggested the Motion Picture Corp donate all seven theaters to the property bureau.
Pocketing the cash
Taichung Cinema is one of the theaters the KMT claims it will return to the state. The land where the cinema was originally located is now home to the Eslite Longhsin Department Store. The KMT sold the land to Peiwu Department Store 25 years ago. The proprietor then divided it into smaller units for sale and the land is now jointly owned by 1,286 people.
The KMT pocketed the profits from the land sale, and most people doubt the KMT's claim that it will return the party-owned land.
The cinema was located at the intersection of Chungcheng Road and Tzuyu Road. It is believed the cinema was built in 1902 and operated by the Japanese under the name of Taichung Tso (台中座). It was the first movie theater in the Taichung area.
In 1947, the Taiwan Provincial Government transferred Taichung Tso to the KMT. It was later owned by the Motion Picture Corp and renamed Taichung Cinema. Adjacent to it was the Chipen Department Store, which was Taiwan's most valuable piece of land for many years until the cinema was rebuilt into a commercial building.
In 1977 and 1978, business volume at Taichung Cinema declined amid fierce competition. The KMT sold the land to Peiwu Department Store for an undisclosed amount. The new owner demolished the theater to construct a shopping mall together with the neighboring Chipen Department Store. It was opened amid great fanfare in 1980.
Poorly managed
But poor management at Peiwu led to the closure of the shopping mall and great losses for investors. In 1987, Tailung Plastics Corp took over the mess and made adjustments to owners' stock rights and shares. The site was renamed Lunghsin Department Store, which was taken over by Eslite in 1998 to become the Eslite Lunghsin Department Store.
The KMT promised to return Chiayi Cinema, owned by the Motion Picture Corp, to the government. The theater has been idle for a decade. Land and house taxes and management fees have long been a burden for the Motion Picture Corp.
The theater occupies 811m2. The Motion Picture Corp owns 81.66 percent of the land.
The cinema is located downtown, on Wenhua Road. Opened in December 1912, it was the first cinema in the Chiayi area. It was rebuilt after a fire in 1927.
The Taiwan Provincial Government took over the theater when the Japanese lost control of Taiwan. It was then transferred to the Motion Picture Corp.
In 1980, the cinema once again burned down. Given its prime location and its money-making potential, the KMT instructed the Motion Picture Corp to rebuild it together with important local figures so as to cozy up to them. Through the KMT's efforts, local politicians and businesspeople pooled NT$40 million to set up Chitung Co. Financed by Chitung, a new commercial building with three basement floors and 10 floors above ground was erected on the original site.
Construction was completed in 1982. But due to tax problems, the land could not be transferred, meaning buyers could not own the land despite having ownership of the building. The dispute sparked an uproar.
After reconstruction, the Central Motion Picture Corp's Chiayi Cinema occupied the fourth, fifth and sixth stories, with one theater accommodating more than 1,000 people and showing only Tai-wanese films. In response to competition, it was later split into three theaters, but, still failing to beat the competition, was forced to close at the end of 1993.
Because of the building's dilapidated state and because it does not meet fire prevention regulations, businesses have been scared off from the site and the building is now idle.
Although it lies empty, the Motion Picture Corp still has to pay millions of dollars each year in land and house taxes and management fees. Given its location, the tax burden is heavy.
Returning the cinema would be a relief for the Motion Picture Corp.
Motion Picture Corp documents show that, in 1947, the KMT took over five Taipei theaters from the Japanese: the New World, Ta Shihchieh (大世界), Taiwan, Ta Kuangming (大光明) and Fang Ming (芳明) cinemas. Of those, only New World was kept as it housed the Central Motion Picture Corp. The rest were sold off.
The New World has been transformed into a commercial building, and only the seventh floor is used as a theater, now called the Majestic (
Central Motion Picture Corp documents show that the Ta Shihchieh was located on 81 Chengdu Rd. and the Taiwan at 127 Hsining S. Rd. The name of the latter was changed to "China" in 1961. The Ta Kuangming was located in a lane off Yenping North Road and the Fang Ming Cinema at the end of Huahsi Street.
According to data from Taipei City's Jiancheng Land Office, the New World Cinema originally occupied 1,441m2. It currently has eight floors above ground. The Central Motion Picture Corp is the registered owner. Banks rate the value of the property at NT$3.32 billion.
The Wanshou Hsing and Kuangfu cinemas in Kaohsiung were considered large theaters during the Japanese occupation. The Wanshou Hsing suspended business in 1995, and the Kuangfu was bought by the city government two years ago. It has been torn down to make way for expansion of the mass rapid transit system.
The Wanshou Hsing Cinema was built during the Japanese occupation. It was popular in 1955 when Taiwanese-language films were in fashion. In 1971, the Motion Picture Corp took over the operation of the cinema. It was closed in 1995.
Various floors of the building, located on Chihsien 3rd. Road, have been leased to a securities company, a bank and an entertainment center. The building was considered as a site for Kaohsiung's film library (高雄電影圖書館), but because of its dilapidated state, it has not been restored to its former glory.
The Kaohsiung City Government is the proprietor of the Kuangfu Cinema and the city's Mass Rapid Transit Bureau is in charge of the building.
The Wanshou Hsing property occupies two parcels of land, one of which is owned by the Kaohsiung City Government and the other by the KMT Central Committee.
Hsinsheng Cinema (新生戲院) occupies 413 pings (1,365m2) in the best part part of Lotung township, Ilan County. It is owned by the Central Motion Picture Corp. Its market value exceeds NT$60 million. The local government hopes the KMT will return the property to the state as soon a possible and that the central government then will allocate it to the Township Office to be used as a cultural facility.
The theater was built in 1936. Following the Japanese surrender, the Taiwan Provincial Government transferred the cinema to the KMT. The property rights now belong to Central Motion Picture Corp. The Taiwanese film The Coldest Winter in Peking premiered at the theater. The building was rented out following the cinema's closure, but is now empty and surrounded by a metal fence.
For sale
One year ago, the Central Motion Picture Corp commissioned a real estate broker to sell the building at a price of NT$250,000 per ping, but there has been a lack of interest.
Going by prices at the Hsinsheng Cinema next to the Lotung Railway Station, where the going rate for one ping lies between NT$150,000 and NT$200,000, the market value of the property has been set at NT$60 million.
The Kuanghua Cinema in Pingtung is not only the city's only first-run cinema, but it is also located in the best part of town. As a result, the land cost has been among the highest in the area and business has been flourishing. Both the land and the building are owned by the KMT.
The Kuanghua Cinema was taken over by the Taiwan Provincial Government in 1946, and was transferred to the KMT in 1947.
Because the cinema was located in the best part of Pingtung, the KMT's Cultural Affairs Department rebuilt the cinema to increase profits and to keep up with urban development in the city.
The two-story building was rebuilt into a five-floor entertainment and commercial building. Construction was completed in 2001. First-run foreign and Taiwanese films are still being shown in eight cinemas on the third and fourth floors. In addition, the first and second floors are leased to a game company catering to teenagers with electronic games, an Internet cafe and a pool hall.
Yenping Cinema in Tainan has been included in the assets the KMT has vowed to return to the state. In the 1970s, the KMT rebuilt the cinema and turn it into the Yam-Pin Business Plaza. The Central Motion Picture Corp still has partial ownership of the property. The address is 120 Hsimen Rd.
According to internal Motion Picture Corp records, the Yenping Cinema was taken over from the Japanese by the Taiwan Provincial Government on March 1, 1946, and in January 1947 it was transferred to the KMT's Taiwan Province Executive Committee.
The KMT's Tainan chapter says that, according to materials from Huahsia Investment Co, the Central Motion Picture Corp registered ownership in 1976 and purchased the cinema from Tainan City Government in 1978. It was later turned into the Yam-Pin Business Plaza. The Central Motion Picture Corp has ownership rights to the main hall on the first floor, the fourth floor, the fifth floor and the basement floors. Its owns about 21.58 percent, or about 1,100 ping, of the property.
Translated by Perry Svensson, Eddy Chang and Jackie Lin
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