Sat, Feb 07, 2004 page3

• Donation skullduggery denied

  ACCUSATIONS The president's deputy secretary-general said that, despite his close relationship with the former Tuntex chairman, he never accepted donations from him

  • By Lin Chieh-yu / STAFF REPORTER
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  Deputy secretary-general to the president Chen Che-nan (陳哲男) yesterday finally broke the silence about his relationship with former Tuntex Group chairman Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪), who created quite a stir with his revelation that President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administration had accepted donations from his company.

  "I met Chen Yu-hao three times in 2002. The first time was at a restaurant, where a friend introduced us," Chen Che-nan said at a news conference at the Presidential Office.

  

  Democratic Progressive Party legislators Chao Yung-ching, right, Lo Wen-chia, center, and Tu Wen-ching, left, visited opposition party legislative caucuses yesterday with signature lists asking for the passage of a bill governing political donations.

  PHOTO: LUO PEI-TEH, TAIPEI TIMES

  "The other two meetings were at the Presidential Office, where Chen Yu-hao explained that he did not transfer capital to invest in China while leaving huge debts in Taiwan. We did not discuss donations at any of the meetings, and I have neither transferred donations for Chen Yu-hao to the president nor accepted his money," Chen Che-nan said.

  He said that Chen Yu-hao's asser-tions had a political motive.

  Over the past five days opposition parties have held several press conferences accusing Chen Che-nan of involvement in financial scandals. In response to their claims, Chen Che-nan authorized Presidential Office spokesman James Huang (黃志芳) to answer any questions.

  On Thursday some Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators asked Chen Che-nan to face the media in person to clearly explain whether he had made any deal with Chen Yu-hao.

  At yesterday's press conference, Chen Che-nan denied all the claims against him, including allegations that he had met Chen Yu-hao at the China Development Group's private club and that he had accepted money from Chen Yu-hao at his residence.

  "I am stating frankly and honestly that we do have a close relationship, but that I never took his money," Chen Che-nan said.

  Meanwhile, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) urged members of all political parties to put into practice of their promise of legislating the donation process, rather than just waging a war of words.

  "The problem is not political donations as such, but how to regulate the donation process, and placing all politicians under the scrutinizing mechanism," Lu said in a TV interview last night.

  "The opposition parties, including the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP), attack others for taking money, but at the same time do their best to obstruct the DPP's plans for passing the Political Donation Law," Lu said.

  "How could those two parties dare to point fingers at us?" Lu said.

  Commenting on a report in a Chinese-language newspaper on Wednesday that she had also received donations worth NT$55 million from Chen Yu-hao's group, Lu criticized the media's performance and asked the media to restrain itself.
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