Under the terms of the Political Donations Act (政治獻金法), any individual, legal entity, organization or other establishment in China cannot make donations to political parties in Taiwan, the Ministry of the Interior said on Tuesday.
Therefore, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) cannot accept any political donations made by Chinese, the ministry said.
The comments were in response to rumors that Chinese benefactors had said they were willing to help the KMT, after a picture was published of KMT Vice Chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) standing beside a whiteboard showing the remaining amount in the party’s political donations account.
Some Chinese supporters were reported to have called themselves “party members in spirit,” saying they wished to contribute to the KMT, adding that the party was “born in China.”
The KMT’s Bank SinoPac account has been frozen by the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee and the party has started small-scale fundraising events to tide it over.
Civil Affairs Department Deputy Director Luo Rui-ching (羅瑞卿) said that political parties are not allowed to take political donations from foreign citizens, legal entities or organizations.
However, Taiwanese abroad who still have citizenship are exempt from this restriction, Luo said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) said that the KMT, despite being more than 100 years old, has yet to learn how to hold fundraising events.
Tsai said he hoped the KMT would learn from this lesson and begin to hold proper fundraisers, as well as familiarize itself with the Political Donations Act, adding that only then could the party maintain its image for its supporters.
In related news, KMT Culture and Communications Committee director Chow Chi-wai (周志偉) yesterday rebutted a media report alleging that China’s Taiwan Affairs Office has helped contact Taiwanese businesspeople in China to make donations to the party.
Saying that the KMT would never ask for donations through the TAO, Chow said that all of the KMT’s fundraising activities would be undertaken in accordance with the Political Donations Act.
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