Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd traveled to London in 2005 on a trip sponsored by a friend of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), an Australian newspaper reported on Friday.
A report in last week’s the Age said Taiwanese-born businessman Kung Chin-yuan (龔金源) paid for the two-week trip when Rudd was shadow minister of foreign affairs, adding that Kung also donated A$220,000 (US$180,000) to the Australian Labor Party (ALP).
Kung is a member of the Queensland branch of the Taiwan Australia Business Council.
The report said that the flight was paid for because Taiwan’s government was worried about the growing influence of China in the South Pacific region and that Kung has been linked to secret diplomatic funds that Chen has been charged with embezzling.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) alleged in October 2006 that Kung had received US$625,000 from Chen from the presidential special allowance to invest in Chinese real estate. The Presidential Office denied the charge at the time.
Kung has denied receiving money from the fund, the report said, adding that he has also refused numerous requests from prosecutors to return to Taiwan to testify in Chen’s case.
Australian Electoral Commission records show Kung donated A$120,000 to the Queensland Labor Party between 1998 and 2006, the story said.
Kung contributed a further A$100,000 to the federal ALP under the name “Lawrence Kung” after Rudd was sworn in as prime minister in December 2007.
Rudd’s links to Taiwan stem from the 1970s when he studied Mandarin at Taipei’s National Taiwan Normal University.
Chen has been detained since December on charges of embezzling NT$104 million from the special discretionary fund during his presidency from 2000 until last year.
The last day of Chen’s trial will be today and the verdict is expected on Sept. 11.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS