Two DPP lawmakers yesterday urged the government to investigate a fee arrangement for a Taipei City recreation center between the Cabinet-level Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission and the KMT- affiliated China Youth Corps (CYC).
DPP lawmakers Lee Chen-nan (
Lee said that over the years the Cabinet-level Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission has undercharged the China Youth Corps while allowing the group to use the Youth Recreation Center in Shihlin.
He accused the commission of playing a prodigal son at the expense of state coffers and prodded the government to terminate the arrangement as part of the effort to probe the legality of KMT assets.
Lee said the commission should have determined its rate by referring to the current land values and the buildings on the site as required by a 1995 land rule.
"But the commission has ignored the regulation and collected its fees based on the worth of the buildings alone," he said. "The commission should take a tougher stand on the matter now that the KMT is no longer in power."
The Cabinet approved the construction of the center in 1978 after then-commission officials complained about a lack of facilities to entertain overseas youth.
The Taipei City Government, the National Property Bureau and the railway bureau own different parts of the land, according to commission official Wang Chen-tai (
"The figure is always calculated according to a set formula," Wang said, adding that the commission owns only two-thirds of the center's new buildings.
The China Youth Corps, formerly a KMT propaganda arm, has added three new buildings to the original establishment. Currently, the youth group has to pay the commission NT$7.8 million a year, a sum CYC official Chen Kuo-yi (陳國義) said is not extraordinarily low.
In recent years, the group has become increasingly independent. Its board members have rejected candidates favored by the KMT headquarters for their leadership positions. Jeanne Tchong-koei Li (
But DPP lawmaker Tsai Chi-fang insisted that the money paid to the Cabinet commission is unduly modest, noting that its Peitou club earns the agency an annual income of NT$40 million. A 1999 pact stipulates that the sum the CYC pays the commission must not be less than N$7.7 million a year.
"I find it more advisable for the private sector to manage the youth recreation center," Tsai told reporters. "I don't see what is keeping the commission from doing that." The lawmaker called on the government to take his advice into consideration when proposing legislation.
Earlier, the Cabinet introduced two bills aimed at regulating political parties and allowing authorities to take action against properties illegally acquired by any party.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS