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Head of overseas compatriot affairs rebuts media claim

Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission (OCAC) Minister Chang Fu-mei (張富美) on Tuesday rebutted a local media report that she pressured expatriate Taiwanese businessmen to refrain from displaying support for the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) presidential ticket on the sidelines of a Taipei conference partly funded by the government.

Chang made the comments after the Chinese-language United Daily News reported that Chang had telephoned KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) to voice concern over a meeting that the party planned to organize on the sidelines of the 13th annual conference of the World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce (WTCC) in order to campaign for KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his running mate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長).

The report quoted veteran KMT member and head of the Ma-Siew support club at the WTCC, Yao Eng-chi (饒穎奇), as saying that the OCAC had threatened to slash subsidies for the WTCC annual conference if the KMT insisted on holding the activity at the WTCC conference venue.

In an effort not to embarrass WTCC members and resolve the issue, Chiang decided to move the meeting to KMT headquarters, where the party held an inaugural ceremony for the Ma-Siew support club, which is composed mainly of WTCC members,Yao said.

Chang denied Yao's accusation and described his allegations as both "far-fetched and unfounded."

Chang said that Chiang and Yao had invited Taiwanese expatriate businessmen who were planning to return to Taiwan for the WTCC annual conference to participate in a KMT campaign activity at which they would meet the party's presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Some of the businessmen, concerned about the KMT's politically charged move, contacted her and threatened to hold their meeting separately, Chang said.

The WTCC, being a purely commercial organization, should maintain neutrality and avoid any political affiliation, Chang said, arguing that the KMT should not have attempted to take advantage of the WTCC's annual conference to solicit support for its presidential candidate.

Chang said that she had phoned Chiang early this month to express her opposition to any political agenda at the WTCC event.

"The OCAC would also have expressed opposition if the Democratic Progressive Party had asked to use the WTCC's annual gathering to seek voter support for its presidential ticket," she said.
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