The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has refused to pay Cabinet-ordered compensation of NT$864.88 million (US$28.43 million) for selling properties appropriated from the Japanese colonial government, with the party saying that the properties were legally acquired and that it would appeal the order.
The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee on June 15 ordered the KMT to pay for 458 properties appropriated from the former Japanese government, which were later sold or expropriated.
The payment was due yesterday and failure to meet the deadline could result in the freezing of assets and detention of the KMT chairperson, who acts as the party’s legal representative.
Photo: CNA
The KMT yesterday said it would launch an administrative suit against the committee’s “illegal order.”
The former Japanese properties were transferred to the KMT to compensate the party for its wartime expenses during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the party said.
The transfer was approved by a high-level decisionmaking body joined by top government and military officials and KMT dignitaries during the post-war period, and therefore the transferred properties were not ill-gotten, it said.
The KMT rejected the committee’s claim that the property transfer was made in violation of the principles of democracy and rule of law and beyond the authority of a political party, saying the transfer was completely legal.
The Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例) stipulates that a compensation order can only be given in cases where an ill-gotten property has been transferred to a third party and cannot be recovered.
The committee gave the order without first investigating the status of the properties in question, the KMT said.
Meanwhile, the committee said it would ask the Administrative Enforcement Agency to enforce the payment.
“The KMT has little cash at hand and its legal income cannot be the target of enforcement actions, so it should be the party’s real estate that is subjected to enforcement,” committee spokeswoman Shih Chin-fang (施錦芳) said.
The agency would follow due process and enforcement would not be affected unless the KMT requests a stay of execution to halt the committee’s order, but the party did not take any such action, Shih said.
Former Japanese properties should be national properties and historical data have shown how the KMT appropriated such properties, she added.
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported yesterday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of about 10 ballistic missiles. The test comes after South Korean and US forces launched their springtime military drills, due to run until Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday oversaw the testing of the multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test involved 12 600mm-caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies, it said. Kim said the drill gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420km striking range, a sense of “uneasiness” and “a deep understanding
UPGRADED MISSILE: The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is reportedly to conduct a live-fire test of the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile on Thursday next week The US Army is planning to build new facilities to boost explosives production and strengthen its supply chain, a move aimed at addressing munitions shortages and supporting obligations to partners including Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel, Defense News reported. The army has issued a sources sought notice for a proposed Center of Excellence at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, the report said. The facility would serve as a hub within the US industrial base for the production of key military explosives, including research department explosives (RDX) and high melting explosives (HMX), while also supporting research and development of next-generation materials. The proposed
RSS