A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Committee branch was listed among the branches of the National Women’s League on the organization’s Web site, despite the latter claiming that it is not affiliated with the KMT.
Founded by Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) wife Soong Mayling (宋美齡), the league’s assets have attracted scrutiny over allegations that it illegally profited from its ties to the KMT’s authoritarian regime.
Some of the league’s funding came from the Military Benefit Tax, which was levied on the US dollar value of all imported goods from 1955 to 1989.
Following two rounds of negotiations with the Ministry of the Interior and the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee, the league late last month agreed to donate nearly 80 percent of its NT$38.1 billion (US$1.26 billion) worth of assets under government supervision.
It also ran an announcement in newspapers and on its Web site denying any links with the KMT, saying that none of its assets came from the party’s coffers.
“Its objective is to serve the nation and the public. It is by no means bound to the interests of a certain political party,” the notice read, referring to the league.
However, an introduction on its Web site provides conflicting information. It said the league has 25 overseas and nine domestic branches, including a KMT Central Committee branch.
Meanwhile, the asset committee’s second investigation report on the league suggested that the KMT had given the league a direct order to establish an election campaign group.
The group’s mission was to establish close contact with the KMT headquarters to help it conduct election campaigns, the report said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lai Jui-jung (賴瑞隆) yesterday said that the findings were “no surprise” given the group’s link with Soong, who led it for decades.
“It has repeatedly claimed that it is not affiliated with the KMT, but how could the league have possibly levied the monetary bonuses [the public] paid to soldiers during the authoritarian era had it not been for the KMT’s party-state rule?” Lai said.
The committee should continue its investigation to ascertain whether the league has other illegal assets, he said.
The committee should press the league to donate all of its assets, rather than 80 percent, he added.
KMT Culture and Communications Committee deputy director Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said the KMT and the league “have been two separate entities all along.”
Asked to comment on the KMT Central Committee branch listed on the league’s Web site and its apparent ties to the party, Hung said he could not to comment on the matter, which “dates back to a long time ago.”
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
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
RSS