The Ministry of Finance yesterday rejected the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) offer to pay a NT$864.8 million (US$28.6 million) fine imposed by the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee with US dollar-denominated bonds issued by the government in 1947.
The party would pay the fine, which has a deadline of today, with US dollar bonds issued by the KMT administration in 1947, KMT Administration and Management Committee director-general Chiu Da-chan (邱大展) said yesterday, adding that the bonds are worth at least NT$38.5 billion at the current exchange rate.
The committee in June fined the KMT in connection with more than 485 properties determined to be ill-gotten, which were partially acquired and expropriated by the KMT in 1947 after the party designated them as “special state-owned properties.”
Photo: CNA
The KMT later sold all the properties.
If the KMT fails to meet the deadline, the fine is to be “forcibly administered” by the Administrative Enforcement Agency, meaning the party’s assets are to be confiscated.
“It is reasonable that the KMT has offered to pay for the properties targeted by the committee with government bonds issued the same year,” Chiu told reporters.
Asked what the party would do if the payment method is rejected, resulting in the KMT’s accounts being frozen and its properties seized, Chiu said that he is confident that such a thing would not happen.
“We are paying, in a sense,” he said, adding that the KMT would propose other payment methods should the plan be rejected.
The ministry said its decision was made in accordance with 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), which states that all government debts — including bonds and deposits received by state-run financial institutes — accrued before 1949, when the KMT regime fled to Taiwan, will not be repaid until the nation is unified, meaning that the bonds the KMT referred to are not legally binding.
KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) in response to media queries said that he is “not afraid” of a possible travel ban the committee could place on him in case the party fails to pay the fine.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang and CNA
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Snow this morning fell on Alishan for the first time in seven years, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Alishan weather station, located at an elevation of about 2,200m in central Taiwan, recorded snowfall from 8:55am to 9:15am, when the temperature dropped to about 1°C, the CWA said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. The last time snow fell at the Alishan weather station was on Jan. 10, 2018, while graupel fell there
RSS