The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday continued to press the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) over its “ill-gotten party assets” after a ruling on Tuesday that questioned the legitimacy of its possession of properties in New Taipei City.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a Taiwan High Court ruling that the Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC) was in illegal possession of government land and called on the corporation to nullify its registration on more than 16,528m2 of land in Banciao District (板橋) so it can be returned to the government.
The land is estimated to be worth NT$10.8 billion to NT$16.2 billion (US$361 million to US$542 million), depending on its zoning as commercial or residential.
The case is one of several attempts since former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration tried to recoup KMT assets that are alleged to be public property.
After the Nationalist government lost the Chinese Civil War in 1949, it transferred some national assets to party-affiliated corporations, such as the BCC, the Central Motion Pictures Corp (CMPC) and China Television (CTV), for fear that should the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) be recognized as the sole representative of China, all assets would become CCP property by default, as the national assets were registered under the Republic of China (ROC).
The Ministry of Transportation and Communication brought charges against the BCC in 2004, citing Article 28 of the National Property Act (國有財產法) and declaring that a transfer of land ownership in 1985 was illegal.
The land is government-owned and off limits for any transaction, the ministry said, adding that it should not have been overseen by a private institute.
The three tracts of land, later separated into eight different tracts, along Minzu Road in Banciao District had originally been government-owned after the KMT took over administration of the nation when the Japanese surrendered after World War II.
Originally belonging to both the ministry and the BCC, the KMT government empowered the BCC to oversee the land, and in 1985 registered the land under the BCC.
Despite the BCC’s argument that its acquisition of the land was legal due to Executive Yuan approval in 1951 and because the National Property Act (國有財產法) had not been implemented at the time, the collegiate bench ruled in the first retrial in 2008 that the ministry was in the right.
The ruling was upheld in the second and third retrials, and the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Taiwan High Court’s ruling yesterday settled the matter.
DPP spokesman Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) said yesterday that the ruling was the judicial system’s recognition that the KMT had illegally possessed public property.
Huang said the ruling also shows that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) promise for “zero party assets” was fake and called for the KMT to cease its stranglehold on efforts to push through the draft political party law and the statute on the disposition of assets improperly obtained by political parties (政黨不當取得財產處理條例).
Ma had promised to liquidate all party assets and return land to the government when running for KMT chairman, a claim that the DPP says to date has not been fulfilled.
However, the party said it has liquidated eight controversial assets, including the three corporations — CTV, BCC and CMPC — the party held by proxy through the Hua Hsia Investment Holding Co, since 2008, which in total is worth NT$30 billion.
Separately, Citizen Congress Watch member Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華) said on Tuesday that Ma should make good his promise on the “zero party asset” policy and also called on the DPP to redouble efforts to push the draft political party act.
Former Control Yuan committee member Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) also said in a report filed last month that the KMT still possesses five pieces of land and three buildings it has not yet returned to the government.
Additional reporting by Hsiang Cheng-chen, Lin Mei-fen, Lin Chia-chi, Tseng Te-jung, Wang Yu-chung, Shih Hsiao-kuang, Tseng Wei-chen and Chen Yen-ting
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
RSS