The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee yesterday canceled a planned visit to the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) archives in Taipei to examine records over what it said was an “unacceptably high” documentation fee demanded by the party, adding that it believes it has the necessary evidence to order the KMT to transfer ownership of two holding companies.
The committee wanted to visit the archives to look for documents pertaining to the founding capital of Central Investment Co, a KMT-owned company whose assets are at the center of a legal battle between the committee and the party.
KMT officials criticized the committee for what they said was a “rude no-show.”
Photo: CNA
However, committee spokeswoman Shih Chin-fang (施錦芳) said yesterday’s visit was canceled because of the KMT wanted NT$46,000 (US$1,437.50) for 26 documents, and the committee also wanted to avoid a potential conflict with protesters outside the KMT archives.
The KMT’s documents charge was unreasonable, and the committee decided it had already collected all documents it needed, Shih said.
“The committee has not in any way obstructed the KMT’s attempt to examine and copy committee data, but the party quotes a fee of NT$46,000 for 26 documents, citing a workload of 230 hours by nine employees. Is that reasonable?” she said to reporters.
The committee first planned to visit the archive on Friday last week, but the KMT canceled the visit at the last minute, saying its staff had organized a trip, which the committee read as a deliberate disruption of its right to conduct investigations, Shih said.
“Since the committee already has clear evidence, we do not have to visit a place where we are not welcome,” she said.
The committee believes it has the evidence to prove the Central Investment Co and its spin-off Hsinyutai Co, which have a combined stock value of NT$ 15.6 billion, were founded by the KMT with assets that had been obtained illegally.
Based on that material, the committee could order the KMT to transfer its ownership of the two companies to the government. Such a decision could be made when the committee meets today.
However, KMT Administration Committee director Chiu Da-chan (邱大展) said the assets committee was the one “fooling” KMT members by abruptly canceling yesterday’s visit.
The Executive Yuan committee last week requested a visit at short notice and then through negotiations the visit was rescheduled for yesterday, but it did not notify the KMT that it would not be coming and KMT members had to telephone asset committee staff to confirm the meeting had been canceled, Chiu said.
The asset committee was misleading the public about the KTM’s document processing fee, which included the personnel costs for nine KMT staffers and lawyers to oversee the handling of important historical data, he said.
The asset committee’s claim that the KMT had demanded NT$200 for a single document page was “malicious mudslinging,” he said, adding that the KMT had only asked for NT$2 per sheet.
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