As Next magazine revealed fresh allegations about Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) family wealth, Lien Hui-hsin (連惠心), Lien's eldest daughter, yesterday read an open letter to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) asking that he stop "smearing" her father.
"I hope the finger-pointing and negative campaign tactics stop right here and all candidates return to rational debates on positive policies and platforms," Lien Hui-hsin told a press conference at the campaign office of Lien and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜).
Lien Hui-hsin had originally planned to personally deliver the letter to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters but changed her mind.
She attributed her change of heart to an announcement by Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (
Worried by the candidates' squabbling, the three requested that candidates put aside political differences and focus on safeguarding national interests.
The open letter came after the latest issue of Next magazine, which hit newsstands on Wednesday evening, reported that Lien Chan and his wife, Lien Fang Yu (連方瑀), had established two figurehead companies overseas to sell two houses located in San Francisco to their children to evade paying taxes.
The report said that Lien Fang Yu failed to report to the Control Yuan about the family's financial situation. The report said she is still the president of a company registered in the Cayman Islands.
The report also alleged that Lien Fang Yu sold a US$2.6 million mansion in San Francisco to the company in August 1993, one day before the Public Functionary Assets Disclosure Law (
Lien Chan also used the same tactic to transfer another house to one of his two sons, Lien Sheng-wen (
PFP Legislator Pang Chien-kuo (
"The family's lawyer completed the written complaint yesterday and is ready to file a lawsuit if the magazine ignores the family's call," Pang said.
Pang admitted that the family used the figurehead companies to transfer family assets to their children, but the one sold to Lien Sheng-wen was later sold to someone else in 2000, while Lien Hui-hsin still owns the other house.
"It's not necessary to include her house in the family's financial possession because Lien Hui-hsin was over 20 years old when she bought the house," Pang said. "Besides, the entire process of the transaction was legal and it was untrue that the property transfer was aimed at shunning public scrutiny before the law took effect," he said.
Pang said Lien Chan and his wife do not handle family finances because Lien Chan's mother, Chao Lan-kun (趙蘭坤), handled such matters before she fell ill.
Also see story:
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS