The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is terminating its contract with Credit Suisse First Boston over the handling of its assets. The big question now is how the KMT's assets in Central Investment Holding Co, which amount to NT$25 billion, will be handled.
KMT spokesman Alex Tsai (
Pressure from a draft law preventing parties from holding assets in or running businesses, combined with an undertaking by KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
The KMT claims the reason it is terminating the trust is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government demanded the KMT place its assets in trust and launched fierce attacks on the party, especially ahead of the elections. Preferring short-term pain to a protracted battle, the KMT decided to terminate the trust and dispose of the assets once and for all.
This is how the KMT puts it. In fact, the KMT has lost two presidential elections, and with little hope of getting its hands on government resources in the near future, it has had to find a way of paying the wages of party workers and meeting the enormous expenditure requirements of local branches. After party-run businesses lost the special privileges that came with the KMT's political wing being in power, losses far exceeded profits.
If the KMT doesn't deal with its assets soon, it will face a heavy financial burden. Severance pay and pensions for party staff will make up a significant part of that burden, and could become a major political headache.
Legislative elections are also around the corner. The KMT's traditional style of campaigning is extremely expensive, and if the party cannot provide financial support and subsidies for its candidates, and if as a result they are not elected and the KMT loses its majority in the legislature, the party's future prospects will sustain a critical wound. The KMT has therefore moved to convert its assets to cash as soon as possible.
Ever alert, the DPP has latched on to the issue of KMT party assets. It has been monitoring the possible illegal sale of such assets as the China Television Company (CTV) and the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC). The combination of DPP political and administrative obstruction will bother the KMT for some time to come -- whatever it does, the KMT cannot easily evade this green-camp attack.
In the past, the KMT extorted the wealth of the people and used its political power to entrench the centrality of party-owned businesses. This was all rather untoward. But even if the KMT is able to convert its ill-gotten assets into hard cash, the public will speak at the ballot box and demand the return of their assets.
I came to Taiwan to pursue my degree thinking that Taiwanese are “friendly,” but I was welcomed by Taiwanese classmates laughing at my friend’s name, Maria (瑪莉亞). At the time, I could not understand why they were mocking the name of Jesus’ mother. Later, I learned that “Maria” had become a stereotype — a shorthand for Filipino migrant workers. That was because many Filipino women in Taiwan, especially those who became house helpers, happen to have that name. With the rapidly increasing number of foreigners coming to Taiwan to work or study, more Taiwanese are interacting, socializing and forming relationships with
Whether in terms of market commonality or resource similarity, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co is the biggest competitor of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). The two companies have agreed to set up factories in the US and are also recipients of subsidies from the US CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed into law by former US president Joe Biden. However, changes in the market competitiveness of the two companies clearly reveal the context behind TSMC’s investments in the US. As US semiconductor giant Intel Corp has faced continuous delays developing its advanced processes, the world’s two major wafer foundries, TSMC and
The recent termination of Tibetan-language broadcasts by Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a significant setback for Tibetans both in Tibet and across the global diaspora. The broadcasts have long served as a vital lifeline, providing uncensored news, cultural preservation and a sense of connection for a community often isolated by geopolitical realities. For Tibetans living under Chinese rule, access to independent information is severely restricted. The Chinese government tightly controls media and censors content that challenges its narrative. VOA and RFA broadcasts have been among the few sources of uncensored news available to Tibetans, offering insights
We are witnessing a sea change in the government’s approach to China, from one of reasonable, low-key reluctance at rocking the boat to a collapse of pretense over and patience in Beijing’s willful intransigence. Finally, we are seeing a more common sense approach in the face of active shows of hostility from a foreign power. According to Article 2 of the 2020 Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), a “foreign hostile force” is defined as “countries, political entities or groups that are at war with or are engaged in a military standoff with the Republic of China [ROC]. The same stipulation applies to
RSS