The Taipei High Administrative Court should be held responsible if the National Women’s League (NWL) disposes of its assets, the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee said yesterday in response to the court’s decision on Tuesday to unfreeze the league’s assets.
The committee in February declared the league to be an affiliate of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and froze its assets totaling about NT$38.5 billion (US$1.25 billion).
During the KMT authoritarian period, the league used the party-state system to ask the public for “military donations” and distributed the money through the KMT’s social work committee, the committee said, adding that there is clear evidence of its affiliation.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
Judges Chen Chin-wei (陳金圍), Pi Nai-chun (畢乃俊) and Chen Hsin-hung (陳心弘) completely disregarded the evidence and the league can now use the funds as it pleases, it said.
The league applied to unfreeze its assets because it was dissatisfied with the committee’s decision to file an administrative suit, sources said.
The decision greatly damages fair competition among political parties and the nation’s transitional justice project, makes the sorting and retrieval of ill-gotten party assets more complicated and harms the public interest, the committee said.
The court in its press release disregarded the fact that transitional justice projects must always race against time and said that lifting the penalty would merely postpone the realization of transitional justice, the committee said.
The court is ignorant of the damage that would be done to the public interest and is essentially telling Taiwanese that there is no need to pursue transitional justice, it said.
Central Investment Co (中央投資公司) and Hsinyutai Co (欣裕台) had also applied to end the administrative penalties placed against them, but the Supreme Administrative Court rejected their requests, the committee added.
Tuesday’s ruling contradicts the Supreme Administrative Court’s ruling, it said.
The Taipei High Administrative Court only urged the league to consider the potential legal risks it might face and to handle its assets in a reasonable manner, it said.
The judges did not put any measure in place to prevent the league from using this opportunity to dispose of its assets, it added.
The league had illegally used about NT$2.4 million of its assets after it had already been declared a KMT affiliate, for which it was later fined, the committee said.
If the league uses large amounts of its assets and in doing so harms the public interest, the Taipei High Administrative Court should be held responsible, it added.
MILESTONE: The foreign minister called the signing ‘a major step forward in US-Taiwan relations,’ while the Presidential Office said it was a symbol of the nations’ shared values US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the state department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct a review “not less than every five years.” It must then submit an updated report based on its findings “not later
A trial run of the north concourse of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s new Terminal 3 is to commence today, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The eight additional boarding gates would allow for more aircraft parking spaces that are expected to boost the airport’s capacity by 5.8 million passengers annually, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Kuo-shian (林國顯) said. The concourse, designed by a team led by British architect Richard Rogers, provides a refreshing space, Lin said, adding that travelers would enjoy the tall and transparent design that allows sunshine to stream into the concourse through glass curtain walls. The
The Presidential Office today thanked the US for enacting the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law, signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday, is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct such a review "not less than every five years." It must then submit an updated
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated