Central Investment Co (中央投資公司) yesterday denied allegations that a high-ranking government official took more than NT$1 billion (US$29.7 million) in bribes during the merger of two financial holding companies.
Wang Hai-ching (汪海清), general manager of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) owned enterprise, expressed regret over the matter, while criticizing the source of the allegations as lacking in professional ethics.
He added that they were baseless and irresponsible allegations made with the aim of diverting public attention from the legal case of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
Chen's defense lawyer, Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文龍), said on Monday that a KMT member and high-ranking government official embezzled billions of NT dollars when the party disposed of its stolen assets. Cheng questioned why the Special Investigation Panel (SIP) did not launch an investigation into the matter.
While Cheng did not reveal the identity of the official, Minister of Civil Service Chang Che-chen (張哲琛) on Monday denied that he was the person in question.
Chang allegedly accepted NT$2 billion from Yuanta Securities Finance (元大證金) during its merger with Global Securities Finance Corp (環華證金) when Chang was the head of the KMT's administrative and management department.
Wang yesterday said Chang handled the sale of party assets in accordance with the law and all transactions were completed when the Democratic Progressive Party was in power. Had any illegal dealings been found, people involved would have been charged, he said.
Wang said Chang and all Central Investment employees would be happy to talk to investigators to prove their innocence.
He also urged the media to double check the facts before reporting them and to refrain from dancing to the tune of a few people who make “groundless accusations.”
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
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