Four foundations affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) secured government tenders worth NT$170 million (US$5.35 million at current exchange rates) during former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) terms, prompting legislators to accuse the previous administration of channeling public money into private hands and using political influence for private gain.
The National Policy Foundation, the Chinese Youth Peace Corps, the Chang Ching Charity Foundation and the Parasite Control Organization won several government tenders and contracts between 2008 and this year while they were directly or indirectly funded by the KMT, according to public data compiled by the Judicial Yuan.
KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) also chairs the National Policy Foundation — a KMT think tank — as well as the Chinese Youth Peace Corps and the Chang Ching Charity Foundation, the data showed.
Photo: Wang Yi-song, Taipei Times
The Parasite Control Organization assigned former government officials as chairperson and director in patronage appointments, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) said.
The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee has launched a new wave of investigations into KMT-affiliated organizations, including foundations established by the party and entities it invested in.
It is to be determined if the foundations are indeed KMT affiliates, and if that is the case, their participation in government tenders during the KMT administration was obviously inappropriate, regardless of whether corruption was involved, DPP caucus chief executive Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said.
“Would it be appropriate for me to bid for a government project while the DPP heads the government?” Wu asked.
New Power Party caucus chief executive Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said the KMT might use its political resources to divert government resources to the party and convert public assets into party assets.
The committee should look into whether the foundations were used as a means to siphon off government funds and whether there were government officials involved in such activities who secured high-level jobs at the foundations, Hsu said.
If the foundations are presumed to be funded via ill-gotten assets, the committee has to ask them to declare their financial status and return ill-gotten properties, he said.
“Hung has assigned senior KMT officials to manage foundations and it is a concern that the KMT might dispose of or privatize party assets, or even launder the money,” he said, adding that an investigation should also be launched into whether the foundations used government subsidies according to the rules.
KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director Hu Wen-chi (胡文琦) said the committee is unconstitutional and it has made itself a political tool of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) with relentless and false charges against the KMT.
All foundations under the KMT have been legally operated and there is no flaw in their conducting procurements and bidding for tender offers, Hu said, calling on the committee to apply the same standard to the DPP’s many foundations.
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