The results of its investigations into the assets of all political parties, including proof that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) helped an affiliate earn about NT$2 billion (US$64.73 million at the current exchange rate) from real estate, would be published on its Web site before June, the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee said yesterday.
The published data would include information on how assets and property were obtained by each party, committee spokeswoman Shih Chin-fang (施錦芳) said.
The first step would be to publish information on assets owned by the KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which would be followed by information on the assets owned by party-affiliated organizations, she said.
Photo courtesy of the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee
The repository would continue to be updated as new findings emerged, she added.
Property obtained by the KMT was originally publicly owned or privately owned land, which would be listed in the repository using current property values, she said.
The KMT registered 139,935 ping (461,785m2) of real estate in 1994, She said.
However, 122,729 ping has since been sold off to party-affiliated organizations or third parties, she said.
The KMT began selling its public service centers to Central Investment Co’s subsidiaries such as Kuang Hua Co (光華公司) in 2006, and subsequently rented the properties from the companies, and the majority of the properties remain in use today as KMT divisional headquarters or public service centers, she said.
Properties that originally served as dormitories have since been resold by Central Investment Co or renovated for other purposes, she said.
Many properties sold to Kuang Hua Co were later reregistered under other party-affiliated companies such as Yuhua Co (昱華公司) or Hsin Kuang Hua Co (欣光華) following company mergers or splits, Shih said.
Having rental income from the KMT helps the Central Investment Co when it is preparing financial reports, or when it seeks bank loans, said one committee member who asked to remain anonymous, adding that the company handles stock investments on the KMT’s behalf.
The company earns “several hundred million New Taiwan dollars” annually in rent from the KMT, the member said, adding that the KMT Central Committee also rents the Bade Building in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山) from the company.
Assets sold by the KMT within the past 15 years include the Central Motion Picture Corp (中影), China Television Co (中視), the building housing the Institute on Policy Research and Development, the party’s Taipei headquarters, the building housing the KMT Central Committee’s old office and the Da Hsiao Building (大孝大樓) in Taipei, they said, adding that the details of these sales would appear in the repository.
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