The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday questioned President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) again about his role in what has become known as the “Yu Chang case” and said the party had organized an “interpellation group on national affairs” to examine the Ma administration’s performance.
Members of the interpellation group include premiers and officials of the former DPP administration as well as academics, DPP spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said, adding that the group would submit daily questions related to cross-strait, domestic and foreign affairs as well as defense policies until election day.
The group submitted its first question to the Ma administration yesterday about the Yu Chang case, in which DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was accused of improper involvement in the formation of Yu Chang Biologics Co, now known as TaiMed Biologics Inc, when she served as vice premier in 2006 and 2007.
Council for Economic Planning and Development Minister Christina Liu (劉憶如) initiated the charge two weeks ago and was found to have cited altered official documents to make the accusation. She has nevertheless continued to question Tsai’s integrity.
While the Tsai camp had offered explanations proving Tsai’s innocence, Liu still refused to say who altered the documents, former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) told a DPP press conference.
Hsieh said Liu was suspected of altering the documents herself and that Ma knew about the discrediting tactic before it was made public.
It is ridiculous for Liu to say that her agency confused the dates of those documents because of “messy document filing” during the DPP administration, because the discrepancies could not possibly stem from filing mistakes, Hsieh said.
Hsieh also displayed two documents to prove Tsai’s innocence, with TaiMed Biologics’ company introduction showing that Tsai was invited by leaders of the company to serve as chairperson because of her expertise in negotiating and fundraising.
The other document showed that the average stock price of TaiMed, a listed company on Taiwan’s over-the-counter market, is NT$33.46 per share, showing more than 200 percent growth from its initial price of NT$10 per share, he said.
The company had in the past four years made a lot of profit for its shareholders, including the government-controlled National Development Fund, which proves that the public investment was not a bad decision, Hsieh added.
As the top economic policy-maker, Liu has failed to address the country’s immediate needs, but focused all her energy on the so-called Yu Chang case, DPP Legislator Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) said at a press conference yesterday.
“It’s a pity that she has now become a hired thug and has forgotten about Taiwan’s economic situation. She is not doing her job, plain and simple,” Wong said.
In the past six months, Taiwan’s overall economic indicator has gone from “green” to “yellow-blue,” showing a risk of a slowing economy in the coming months, DPP Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) said.
“What Liu should do is try to turn things around, instead of spending all her time on a smear campaign,” she said.
After the DPP’s press conference, Liu said she would not comment any further on the matter.
Additional reporting by Amy Su
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