The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) former financial prowess stemmed from concessions that the party granted businesses it operated, as well as a “special foreign exchange” regimen that applied exclusively to KMT members during the party-state era, which was independent of the regular foreign exchange system, academics said.
Speaking at a symposium last week focusing on democracy pioneer Fu Cheng (傅正) and the KMT’s assets, Taiwan Institute of Economic Research southern branch director Jason Kao (高仁山) said that the KMT regime shortly after it arrived in Taiwan created a special foreign exchange system.
The system allowed KMT-run businesses to bypass restrictions that the party otherwise imposed on foreign currency transactions, imports and exports, which in turn helped them gain an advantage over their competitors and monopolize the market.
While the special foreign exchange system was only available to businesses run by KMT members, other businesses often resorted to bribery and undue networking to be included in the system, which led to the rise of special foreign exchange brokers, negatively affecting the economy, people’s livelihoods and the sociopolitical climate, Kao said.
The KMT meddled with monopolistic state-run enterprises, such as CPC Corp, Taiwan, Ill-Gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee deputy researcher Yang Chen-yu (楊鎮宇) said, adding that CPC paid NT$1 commission for every NT$8.5 it made through the sale of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and natural gas in the 1970s to KMT-operated Ruei Hua Co (瑞華公司), the KMT-appointed “official distributor” of fuels.
Ruei Hua Co was dissolved in 1978 and replaced by the now-defunct department of liquefied gas supply under the Veteran Affairs Council, which continued to levy commission for the KMT’s benefit and paid “rent” to the KMT and its Yu Tai Co (裕台公司), which owned most of the land on which gas filling plants were located, Yang said.
Even though the sale of LPG was opened to free competition in 1993, it was not until KMT-controlled Central Investment Co and Kuang Hua Co (光華公司) in 2002 disposed of shares they held in other LPG firms that the KMT officially withdrew from the business, he said.
KMT-operated businesses that profited from LPG sales since 1971 included Central Investment Co, Ruei Hua and Kuang Hua, which together founded Shin Shin Natural Gas Co (欣欣天然氣) and 11 other LPG companies, Yang added.
EXPANSIONIST: China deploys an average of 40 to 50 warships and coast guard vessels daily in the South China Sea, despite pledges not to militarize the region, an official said China is attempting to expand its influence across the First Island Chain and increase pressure on Japan by sending coast guard vessels into waters off of Taiwan under the pretext of maritime negotiations with Japan and the Philippines, a national security official said yesterday. China’s recent actions in the waters east of Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) are attempts to establish dominance in First Island Chain waters, said the official who declined to be named, adding that this is “expansion disguised as law enforcement.” Framing China’s actions solely as a cross-strait issue is a serious misjudgment that
Through analyzing fossil evidence, a research team at National Taiwan University (NTU) discovered the largest endemic bird to have lived in Taiwan, naming it Pavo miejue, or extinct peafowl (滅絕孔雀). The Mikado pheasant, which is printed on the back of the NT$1,000 bank note, was previously believed to be the biggest endemic bird to Taiwan. The research team’s findings suggest that Pavo miejue lived during the Pleistocene epoch tens of thousands of years ago. It is the first endemic extinct bird species discovered and formally named in Taiwan. The study was coauthored by NTU Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修),
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to suspend its automated Skytrain service connecting Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 starting on July 1 to facilitate connection works for the upcoming Terminal 3, the airport operator said today. Passengers and staff who need to travel between the two terminals after the suspension can instead use the Taoyuan MRT or the airport's 24-hour shuttle bus service, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said. The Taoyuan MRT Airport Line directly links the two terminals, while the shuttle buses are to operate around the clock, the company added. The Skytrain provides free transportation between the airport’s two terminals for travelers and
Taiwan ranked 42nd in terms of peacefulness among 163 countries, down five places from last year, according to this year’s Global Peace Index. With an overall score of 1.751, Taiwan dropped from 37th last year, the report published by the global Institute for Economics and Peace showed. The overall score measures a country’s level of peacefulness using 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators across three domains — ongoing domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, and militarization. While Taiwan ranked 42nd worldwide, it was listed in ninth place among the 19 Asian-Pacific countries in the report, after New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia,
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