The Administrative Enforcement Agency has sequestrated the National Policy Foundation’s Taipei headquarters after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) refused to pay a NT$860 million (US$28.68 million) fine imposed by the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee over its misappropriation of state-owned land during the martial law era.
The KMT had occupied the plot, which belonged to the Ministry of National Defense, before 1980 when it obtained the license to use the building that houses the KMT think tank on Hanzhou S Road.
The 744m2 plot, along with a nearby housing complex near Rennai Road, belonged to the ministry, land registration office data shows.
The KMT did not sign a lease contract with the National Property Agency until the nation’s first transition of political power in 2000. The rent was NT$267,000 per month.
The contract has since been renewed tree times, with the latest monthly rent set at NT$395,512 until Dec. 31, 2019.
The building was seized by the agency on Oct. 24.
It was first registered under the KMT’s Central Committee and then transferred to the party itself.
The party used its privilege in the party-state era to occupy the land without paying rent, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lai Jui-jung (賴瑞隆) said.
Had it been an ordinary citizen occupying the plot and erecting a building on it, that building would have been knocked down, Lai said.
However, the KMT has been allowed to rent the property at an averaged of NT$1,785 per ping, or 3.3m2, Lai said.
The agency should not agree to renew the lease after the contract expires, Lai said, adding that the KMT should move out of its own accord.
The government should not foreclose the building, but rather transform it into a memorial promoting transitional justice, so that people can learn about the KMT’s robbing and occupation of public property, he said.
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