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.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition