China's National Audit Office reported yesterday that its investigations uncovered 7.1 billion yuan (US$900 million) in pension funds misused in overseas investments, construction projects and unauthorized lending.
The report, seen on the National Audit Office's Web site, came amid reports authorities plan to tighten controls over the management of the country's 2.2 trillion yuan (US$280 billion) in social security funds, acting to prevent further abuses following a corruption scandal that toppled Shanghai's top leader two months ago.
Pension funds make up a key part of the country's social safety net, and top leaders have vowed to ensure the funds, until recently mainly under the control of local leaders, are used wisely.
The report said the audits found 4.8 billion yuan in misused funds after 1999 and 2.3 billion yuan in misused funds up to 1999.
Shanghai's Communist Party Secretary Chen Liangyu (陳良宇) was dismissed in September amid allegations that he and other city officials allowed 3.2 billion yuan government-held pension funds to be illicitly invested in risky real estate and toll road projects.
Top leaders in Beijing have portrayed the crackdown in Shanghai, which is at least partly aimed at consolidating the central leadership's political control over China's commercial hub, as evidence of the ruling Communist Party's determination to combat the nation's rampant corruption.
Earlier this week, Premier Wen Jiabao (
Local governments managed about half of all social security funds last year, the National Audit Office's report said.
It did not give details on Shanghai.
According to Chinese law, social security funds have to be kept in state-owned commercial banks and managed under designated fiscal accounts. The balance of funds can only be used to buy treasury bonds or placed as deposits in banks, where interest earnings are negligible.
But local political bosses have often sought higher returns through sweetheart deals for businessmen, sometimes using the money to bail out bankrupt businesses for the sake of "social stability."
no stone unturned
The National Audit Office ordered local authorities to resolve any cases of misused funds and reclaim or repay any losses, punish officials involved and report back to the audit office by early next year.
Local branches of the audit office were told to conduct regular audits of social security funds and publish the results.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique