Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) drew criticism yesterday after she purchased tea from her brother’s tea plantation in China with caucus funds as gifts to her party’s legislators.
Yang said the money belonged to the caucus and should not be considered public funds.
Yang drew criticism within the KMT after she gave each KMT lawmaker a 7kg brick of pu-erh tea in the shape of a gold ingot earlier this month.
A story published yesterday by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) said each caucus receives a monthly subsidy from the Legislative Yuan, with the KMT caucus receiving approximately NT$810,000 per month.
The caucus’ secretary-general receives about NT$300,000 from the fund for the caucus’ public relations, the story said.
Yang said she chose the tea as a Dragon Boat Festival gift for fellow caucus members because many people consider drinking tea healthy. She also said she had covered part of the cost with her own money.
“The tea came from a company jointly owned by my brother and his good friend. If anyone has a problem with the purchase, I will accept the criticism with humility,” she told reporters.
The Liberty Times quoted an anonymous KMT lawmaker as saying that Yang’s purchase could be seen as a conflict of interest because she chose tea from her brother’s plantation.
“The subsidy is granted to the caucus based on the number of seats the caucus holds. The fund is not granted to her to buy products manufactured by her family members,” the legislator was quoted as saying.
The legislator said Yang had made such purchases on more than one occasion since becoming secretary-general of the caucus three months ago.
“It is ridiculous for her to give [caucus members] tea leaves almost every month. Plus, the tea is made in China rather than Taiwan,” the legislator was quoted as saying.
When asked for comment, KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) defended Yang.
“At least we can be sure that products manufactured by her family member are not of poor quality,” Lo said.
However, KMT Legislator Wu Ching-chih (吳清池) said Yang should not have spent caucus funds on the gifts.
Wu said Yang might not have broken the law by purchasing tea from her brother with the funds, but her actions could upset the public.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said Yang should be condemned for spending legislative funds on products produced by her family.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
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