The Taipei City Government yesterday released documents saying that Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had made NT$68.09 million (US$2.09 million) in donations, describing it as proof that the mayor had never pocketed money from his special allowance fund.
A total of 236 donations had been made to public welfare groups, charity organizations, cultural and educational groups during Ma's eight-year term, city government officials said. More than 87 percent of the amount had been given to 53 public welfare groups, according to the city government.
"We checked donation receipts and transfer receipts and did not find any records of Ma pocketing the money from those donations," Chou Chih-cheng (
More than 99 percent of the donation receipts were examined, and only two donations, totaling NT$16,670, were made without receipts. Officials said that one of these donations was made to the family of a deceased reporter, and the other was given to an association that collects public welfare lottery receipts and uses the funds for charity work. In addition, about NT$2 million in donations were excluded from the total because complete receipts were unavailable, Chou said.
Although Chou, Deputy Mayor King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) and Taipei City Government Secretariat Director Lee Sush-der(李述德) gathered to outline the donation records, Ma was absent, opting to attend municipal events instead.
Although the accountant and the city government made public the total amount of donations and divided it by groups which received the money, they failed to clarify the portions of the donations that came from Ma's mayoral special allowance.
"What matters is not where the money came from, but where the money goes and how it is used," Lee said. "The mayor made donations totaling NT$68 million, which is much more than his mayoral allowance of NT$15 million ... He didn't pocket any money from the fund."
King cited the Ministry of Justice, which said on Wednesday that the special allowance fund should be seen as a "substantial subsidy" (
"It's also wrong to accuse Ma of profiting by donating money to his own foundations. Bill Gates also donated money to set up the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ... What matters is whether or not the foundation is doing charity work," he added.
Lee joined King in defending Ma over accusations that Ma had put the funds into his personal account and used the allowance as his own money.
While the allowance should be used for public affairs, with the mayor paying bills with his own money first and applying for reimbursement later, the reimbursement wired to Ma's account from the government should be treated as his own money, Lee said.
Although the donation records showed that Ma had donated more than NT$68 million, a closer examination found that excluding the NT$47 million mayoral election subsidies, NT$5 million election balance and trust fund and a NT$11 million donation from his personal account made last month, Ma only made about NT$5 million in donations with his allowance fund during his eight-year term.
In response to accusations that Ma had wired his allowance to his wife, Chou Mei-chin (
Asked to comment on criticism of the city government's crisis management abilities, King said the city government had shown caution and wanted to examine the evidence thoroughly before going public.
He added that the city government had held yesterday's press conference largely to "satisfy the media's curiosity."
"We also want to prove with numbers and facts that Mayor Ma has acted with integrity from the beginning," he said.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
RSS