Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday alleged that a China-affiliated business group had funded the construction project of the Straits Exchange Foundation’s (SEF) new building in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直).
DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) told the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee that the building had cost an estimated NT$700 million (US$23.2 million) to build. While the foundation raised NT$300 million on its own, another NT$200 million came from the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland, which is affiliated with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO).
The association’s Web site shows that its honorary chairmen are TAO Director Wang Yi (王毅) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林). ARATS deputy chairmen Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中) and Li Bingcai (李炳才) serve as the association’s chief advisors.
The association’s rules state that its members must “embrace unification” and dedicate themselves to pushing cross-strait development and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Chiu quoted SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) as saying that the foundation would reserve one floor of its new building for the association.
SEF Deputy Chairman Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉) said the money it raised did not come from the association, but from the foundation’s board members and businesspeople. However, SEF officials admitted that many of the foundation’s board members have business connections in China.
Chiu was joined in his request that the foundation make public the names of its donors by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), but Kao said he must respect the wishes of those who preferred to remain anonymous.
Mainland Affairs Council Minister Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) also said while she thought transparency was important, the wish of individual donors must be respected.
DPP Legislator Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) said he suspected those who did not want their identities revealed might be afraid of Chinese suppression or might have donated the money on behalf of China.
DPP Legislator Chien Chao-tong (簡肇棟) asked whether it was legal for the foundation to raise funds without obtaining permission from the Ministry of the Interior or local governments. The Charity Donations Act (公益勸募條例) stipulates that such funds be placed under the oversight of the supervisory agency.
Later yesterday, the foundation issued a statement saying the act should not apply to the construction project because the money raised for the project was not used for charitable purposes.
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