Statements issued by the Presidential Office seeking to clarify allegations that an inappropriate relationship exists between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Ting Hsin International Group (頂新國際集團) have not convinced the public, long-time political activist Shih Ming-te (施明德) said yesterday.
In a post on Facebook commenting on the statements the Presidential Office made on Friday, Shih urged the Democratic Progressive Party and its chairperson, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), to “take the necessary political action” to address the situation.
Ridding the government of corruption would require the efforts of not only the prosecutorial system and anticorruption activists, but also of the DPP, Shih said, referring to media personality Clara Chou’s (周玉蔻) allegation that Ma accepted an off-the-books political donation from Ting Hsin.
Chou’s claim is now being probed by the Special Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.
With the revelation of the most recent cooking oil scandal — in which recycled waste oil and animal feed-grade oil was found in products produced by Ting Hsin subsidiaries — Ma’s relationship with the food conglomerate was called into question as it became evident that some of the Ting Hsing executives who are part of the Wei (魏) family that owns the group had emerged relatively unscathed from previous food safety incidents involving the company.
Chou has alleged that Ting Hsin offered NT$200 million (US$6.29 million) to Ma during his presidential re-election campaign in 2012.
Had it not been for the benefits Ma received from Ting Hsin, the Wei family would not have been allowed to “go on a rampage” throughout the nation, Shih said.
In an opinion piece published in the Chinese-language Apple Daily on Friday, Shih said that after carefully going through the allegations regarding the relationship between the Wei family and Ma, his confidence in Ma being a clean president had been badly shaken.
It is not out of the question that Ma could face jail time on charges of corruption after he completes his tenure, just like former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who has been serving a sentence for graft at Taichung Prison since 2008, Shih said.
Ma must clarify allegations that Wei Ying-heng (魏應行), the youngest of the four Wei brothers, reported to him on the cross-strait trade of agricultural products at the Presidential Office and that he instructed Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Bao-ji (陳保基) to assist the Wei family in the matter, Shih said.
Despite the difficulty of proving Chou’s claim — because if the donation was made in cash, there would be no trail of evidence to follow — it appears to be based on sound reasoning, judging from how Ting Hsin was able to engage in various investments in Taiwan after returning empty-handed from China, Shih said.
Ma should come forward to clarify these doubts, he said.
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