Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has no plan to release more information about her 18 percent savings account, party officials said yesterday, denying reports by local media claiming otherwise.
The Chinese-language China Times reported yesterday that amid the public outcry, Tsai was planning to release a list of donations she had made from the gains she had accued from the account, which has recently been at the center of heated debate.
Tsai on Thursday gave up the savings account — a civil servant retirement benefit that the DPP officially opposes — from which she was receiving NT$62,800 in interest monthly. Retired teachers and military personnel are also eligible for such preferential savings accounts.
Questioned about her motives, Tsai said all the money acquired from the account in the past had been donated to charities and that she did not believe the preferential program for retired civil servants was “fair” or “reasonable.”
DPP spokesperson Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said it was regrettable that some media focused so much on Tsai in recent days, rather than reporting on and discussing the need for reform on the matter.
He said the China Times report was “false,” and that Tsai had no plan to make the donation list public.
“If we do give it out [the list of recipients], we are concerned it would create [political] difficulties for the organizations involved, something that Tsai doesn’t want to see happen,” Lin said.
Meanwhile, Lin attempted to downplay another aspect of the report, which said that Tsai was expected to meet senior party politicians during a “friendship tour” to solidify her support.
“What Tsai aims to do is exchange opinions not only with party elders, but also other DPP officials and respected members of the party,” Lin said.
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