Government officials yesterday clarified accounts following a media report that said the state-owned Taiwan Post Co was asked by the government to deposit NT$10 billion (US$324 million) in a bank affiliated with a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker.
The latest issue of Next magazine published yesterday reported that Vice Premier Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) demanded Taiwan Post deposit NT$10 billion in Sunny Bank (陽信銀行), one day after DPP Legislator Hsueh Ling (薛凌) and her husband Chen Shen-hung (陳勝宏) were charged with involvement in a loan scandal at the bank last year.
Chen, a former DPP lawmaker, is chairman of the bank.
PHOTO: CNA
The report said Taiwan Post deposited NT$37 billion in some questionable banks, NT$10 billion of which was deposited in Sunny Bank. The bank has only returned NT$6.5 billion after Chiou had Taiwan Post defer payment four times.
clarification
Executive Yuan spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (
"It's wrong to accuse the government of aiding Sunny Bank. The government will work out a plan for Sunny Bank to repay the loan interest and principal with the bank. The allegation of the report was unfair to the bank and to the government," Shieh said.
"When a bank is having a financial crisis, the government has the obligation to step in to keep depositors of the banks from suffering losses," he said.
When approached by reporters outside the Executive Yuan, Chiou also dismissed the allegation made by the report that he embezzled the Taiwan Post fund to aid Hsueh.
Earlier yesterday at a press conference, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) called the postal company's decision into question, saying that Sunny Bank's credibility had been sabotaged after suffering from an alleged embezzlement scandal last year, in which Hsueh and Chen were charged with seeking illegal loans with fake documents from the Sunny Bank.
Lin questioned postal company president Wu Min-yu (吳民佑), who attended the conference, over whether DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) had received the money as a campaign contribution.
In response, Wu confirmed the magazine's report, but denied that Chiou was responsible for the company making the deposit.
He said the postal company did not take the initiative to put the money in Sunny Bank until officials from the company participated in a meeting presided over by the Banking Bureau, under the Financial Supervisory Commission, and the Central Deposit Insurance Co.
tight-lipped
Meeting participants prompted the decision to have the Taiwan Post Co store the money in Sunny Bank in a bid to "maintain overall financial order," Wu said. He remained tight-lipped, however, when asked by KMT legislators regarding details of the meeting.
At a separate setting yesterday, Ministry of Transportation and Communications Vice Minister Ho Nuan-hsuen (
Taiwan Post currently keeps part of the postal fund at 34 state-run and private banks. The postal fund has topped NT$4 trillion, but only NT$722.5 billion are saved in these banks, he said.
Ho said that the Sunny Bank has a rating of AAA- and is rated B by the post office itself. The amount saved in Sunny Bank is approximately NT$9.5 billion.
In addition to Sunny, Ho said that the Taiwan Post also has savings in the Chinese Bank (中華商業銀行), Bowa Bank (寶華銀行), Asia Trust (亞洲信託) and other banks.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said Saturday that she would not be intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), following reports that Chinese agents planned to ram her car during a visit to the Czech Republic last year. "I had a great visit to Prague & thank the Czech authorities for their hospitality & ensuring my safety," Hsiao said on social media platform X. "The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community," she wrote. Hsiao visited the Czech Republic on March 18 last year as vice president-elect and met with Czech Senate leadership, including
There have been clear signs of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempts to interfere in the nationwide recall vote on July 26 in support of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators facing recall, an unnamed government official said, warning about possible further actions. The CCP is actively involved in Taiwanese politics, and interference in the recall vote is to be expected, with multiple Chinese state media and TAO attempts to discredit the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and undermine public support of their recall movement, the official said. This interference includes a smear campaign initiated this month by a pro-Beijing Hong Kong news outlet against
A week-long exhibition on modern Tibetan history and the Dalai Lama’s global advocacy opened yesterday in Taipei, featuring quotes and artworks highlighting human rights and China’s ongoing repression of Tibetans, Hong Kongers and Uighurs. The exhibition, the first organized by the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan (HRNTT), is titled “From the Snowy Ridges to the Ocean of Wisdom.” “It would be impossible for Tibetans inside Tibet to hold an exhibition like this — we can do it. because we live in a free and democratic country,” HRNTT secretary-general Tashi Tsering said. Tashi Tsering, a Taiwan-based Tibetan who has never
A first shipment of five tons of Taiwan tilapia was sent from Tainan to Singapore on Wednesday, following an order valued at NT$600,000 (US$20,500) placed with a company in the city. The products, including frozen whole fish and pre- cooked fish belly, were dispatched from Jiangjun Fishing Harbor, where a new aquatic processing and logistics center is under construction. At the launch, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) called the move a “breakthrough,” marking Taiwan’s expansion into the Singaporean tilapia market. Taiwan’s tilapia exports have traditionally focused on the United States, Canada, and the Middle East, Huang said, adding that the new foothold in