Members of the public were treated to their first look at the wealth of the main presidential candidates yesterday, as the Central Election Commission (CEC,
Although the lists are quite obviously not complete indicators of the candidates' personal wealth, it came as little surprise that KMT candidate Lien Chan (
Lien Chan and his wife, Lien Fang-yu (
The couple's report to the CEC also included a NT$36.2 million loan to Pingtung (
Lien Chan also owns memberships to three exclusive golf clubs, with a total estimated value of NT$13 million.
All the real estate reported by his running mate, Premier Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), is listed under the name of his wife, Chu Shu-hsien.
The couple hold title to two tracts of land and own two houses, all in Taipei. The Siew family reported NT$1.2 million in bank deposits, but Chu has a NT$3.57 million outstanding bank loan.
DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (
Chen has NT$7.75 million in his presidential campaign fund, as well as a foreign exchange account at a domestic bank with funds amounting to nearly NT$7 million. The money in the account is believed to be campaign contributions from overseas supporters.
Chen and his wife, Wu Shu-chen (
Independent candidate James Soong owns a plot of land and a house near San Francisco in the US, as well as three homes in Taipei County. Soong also has nearly NT$9 million in bank deposits. Soong's wife, Chen Wan-shui (
Soong and his wife reported owning just one vehicle, and claimed no stock holdings or debts.
Soong's running mate Chang Chao-hsiung (張昭雄) is considerably more wealthy. He owns eight tracts of land and six houses, with a total of NT$23 million in bank deposits and over NT$10 million in stocks.
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation. Cheng is visiting at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, as the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan stalls a government plan for US$40 billion in extra defense spending. Speaking to reporters before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a “historic journey for peace,” but added that some people felt uneasy about her trip. “If you truly love Taiwan,
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
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