The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) declared assets vastly outnumber those of other political parties, according to official filings released by the Ministry of the Interior this month.
The KMT declared NT$18.9 billion (US$589 million) in assets for the fiscal year 2015, down from NT$24.8 billion in 2014, while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) declared NT$440 million in assets.
Party asset income comprised 76.5 percent of the KMT’s NT$1.89 billion declared income, compared with 15.4 percent from government subsidies, 4.8 percent from political contributions and 2.9 percent from party dues.
The DPP declared NT$600 million in total income, with government subsidies accounting for 37.4 percent, political contributions 31.6 percent and party dues 28 percent respectively.
The People First Party declared NT$49 million in revenue, while the newly established New Power Party has yet to file an assets report.
Political parties have been required to file financial statements, balance sheets and lists of assets with the ministry since 2007.
News of the reductions in the KMT’s declared assets drew skepticism from political analysts and campaigners, who said that the party might be seeking to shed its assets prior to the expected passage of new legislation being debated by the Legislative Yuan that would grant a special commission authority to investigate and seize “illicit party assets” for the first time.
Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology assistant professor Lo Cheng-chung (羅承宗) said political parties are only required to submit general reports under the current rules, making it difficult to evaluate filings.
He said that the KMT should clearly state where the assets had gone, because it had previously shown itself skilled in establishing shell corporations and foundations to shrink the apparent size of its holdings.
The party’s efforts to stall the proposed legislation might be aimed at buying time to shield more assets, he said.
Zero Party Assets Alliance convener Huang Shih-hsin (黃世鑫) said that the rules only require parties have their accountants sign the financial statements that they file with the ministry, meaning there is no independent verification of the statements.
KMT Culture and Communications Committee director Chow Chi-wai (周志偉) said the reduction in the party’s assets was the result of expenditure along with the decapitalization of party-held firm Hsinyutai Co.
Additional reporting by Hsiao Ting-fang, Tseng Wei-chen and Shih Hsiao-kuang
Thirty-five earthquakes have exceeded 5.5 on the Richter scale so far this year, the most in 14 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said on Facebook on Thursday. A large earthquake in Hualien County on April 3 released five times as much the energy as the 921 Earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999, the agency said in its latest earthquake report for this year. Hualien County has had the most national earthquake alerts so far this year at 64, with Yilan County second with 23 and Changhua County third with nine, the agency said. The April 3 earthquake was what caused the increase in
INTIMIDATION: In addition to the likely military drills near Taiwan, China has also been waging a disinformation campaign to sow division between Taiwan and the US Beijing is poised to encircle Taiwan proper in military exercise “Joint Sword-2024C,” starting today or tomorrow, as President William Lai (賴清德) returns from his visit to diplomatic allies in the Pacific, a national security official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said that multiple intelligence sources showed that China is “highly likely” to launch new drills around Taiwan. Although the drills’ scale is unknown, there is little doubt that they are part of the military activities China initiated before Lai’s departure, they said. Beijing at the same time is conducting information warfare by fanning skepticism of the US and
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is unlikely to attempt an invasion of Taiwan during US president-elect Donald Trump’s time in office, Taiwanese and foreign academics said on Friday. Trump is set to begin his second term early next year. Xi’s ambition to establish China as a “true world power” has intensified over the years, but he would not initiate an invasion of Taiwan “in the near future,” as his top priority is to maintain the regime and his power, not unification, Tokyo Woman’s Christian University distinguished visiting professor and contemporary Chinese politics expert Akio Takahara said. Takahara made the comment at a
DEFENSE: This month’s shipment of 38 modern M1A2T tanks would begin to replace the US-made M60A3 and indigenous CM11 tanks, whose designs date to the 1980s The M1A2T tanks that Taiwan expects to take delivery of later this month are to spark a “qualitative leap” in the operational capabilities of the nation’s armored forces, a retired general told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview published yesterday. On Tuesday, the army in a statement said it anticipates receiving the first batch of 38 M1A2T Abrams main battle tanks from the US, out of 108 tanks ordered, in the coming weeks. The M1 Abrams main battle tank is a generation ahead of the Taiwanese army’s US-made M60A3 and indigenously developed CM11 tanks, which have
RSS