The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is preparing to reclaim the NT$240 million (US$7.87 million) involved in the Chung Hsing Bills Finance scandal involving People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) from the Taipei District Court, a Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday.
The Chung Hsing Bills Finance scandal broke in 1999 when Soong was accused of embezzling millions of dollars during the time he was KMT secretary-general.
Part of the case involved allegations that Soong stole NT$240 million from the KMT and used it to buy US bonds in his son’s name. Soong has said the money was to be used as a gift for members of Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) family in the US and that he did not steal the money.
After news of the scandal broke, Soong attempted to return NT$240 million to the KMT, but then-president and chairman of the KMT Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) refused to accept the funds.
In January 2000, Soong asked the Taipei District Court to take custody of the funds, naming the payee as Lee.
The report in the Chinese-language United Evening News said because civil law stipulates that funds held by the district court are given to the treasury if a payee does not apply to receive them within 10 years, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) and Soong recently discussed how to withdraw the money.
The news report said the KMT has asked its attorneys to look into whether Wu can apply to take back the money in his capacity as KMT chairman.
KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yi (吳敦義) confirmed yesterday that the KMT chairman had been discussing the issue with Soong and Lee.
“I believe that the three will reach a consensus on the issue pretty soon,” he said.
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
RSS