The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday accused President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and other prominent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members of cronyism by embedding party members and their subordinates in state-controlled companies, including China Airlines (CAL).
The controversy surrounding 10,009 cartons of cigarettes allegedly smuggled into the nation by the airline and National Security Bureau officials has exposed the complex cronyism that has become deeply rooted in the DPP administration since it was inaugurated more than three years ago, KMT caucus whip William Tseng (曾銘宗) told a news conference in Taipei.
Showing a list compiled by the caucus, Tseng said that Tsai had installed several DPP members in CAL’s subsidiaries, including former Presidential Office secretary-general Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭), who is now president of China Pacific Catering Services.
Presidential Office Secretary-General Chen Chu (陳菊) had during her tenure as Kaohsiung mayor enlisted a score of officials to head state-run or state-controlled companies, including CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Cheng Wen-lon (鄭文隆), Taiyen Electronics Co chairman Chen Chi-yu (陳啟昱) and Chunghwa Post chairman Wu Hung-mo (吳宏謀), all of whom had served as her deputy mayors, KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) said.
The DPP has engaged in pork barreling to the extent that “the whole nation is run by Sister Chu’s people,” Ko said, using Chen Chu’s nickname within the DPP.
She asked how many favors Tsai owed Chen Chu to allow her to wield such power.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has also given posts to several members of his administration when he was Taichung mayor, such as former Taichung deputy mayor Lin Ling-san (林陵三), who is now chairman of state-sponsored China Engineering Consultants Inc, she said.
CAL should disclose the full minutes of the seven meetings held by former CAL senior vice president Lo Ya-mei (羅雅美) and former chartered flight division vice president Chiu Chang-hsin (邱彰信), who were in charge of arranging the presidential charter flight for Tsai’s trip to the nation’s four Carribean allies this month, KMT Legislator Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said.
Lo and Chiu have been demoted to the positions of special assistant to the chairman and office of the president senior coordinator respectively, but they still have not left the airline’s decisionmaking circle, she said, asking how long CAL chairman Hsieh Shih-chien (謝世謙) intends to shield the two.
Lo’s new role, which resembles the role of a regent, would allow her to more directly influence the airline’s operations, KMT Legislator Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said.
Asked to comment on Lin Chia-lung’s remark that June 2014 — during former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration — marked a “turning point” in the history of the smuggling malpractice, as central government officials allegedly imported more than 1,000 cartons of cigarettes that month, Tseng said that the minister should tell the public how to prevent similar offenses rather than trying to shift the public’s focus.
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