The balance of a relief fund established in 1961 by Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to tackle hunger in China would be confiscated as national property, the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee said on Sunday.
By the time the fund was closed in 2002, it had amassed NT$34.25 million (US$1.14 million at the current exchange rate) from domestic donations and US$750,000 from foreign donations, the committee said.
The money was put into an account at the central bank held by the Chinese Association for Relief and Ensuing Services, but the domestic donations were in 2004 transferred to an account at Land Bank of Taiwan, it said.
The committee said that it has asked the association to return the money to the central government.
“Today China is in a state of disaster... I hope that everyone can donate foodstuffs and give NT$1 each, so that through everyone’s great effort we can save our dying compatriots in the mainland,” the committee quoted Chiang as saying in a January 1961 speech.
Officials told a legislative session the following month that they would look into ways for each government department to assist fundraising efforts, the committee said.
In 1962, Chiang ordered that the account opened by the association should not be touched until NT$10 million was gathered, and that the funds should be left until it was determined that China was in a state of emergency, it said.
The association contravened this stipulation when it moved the funds to Land Bank of Taiwan and when the foreign donations, totaling NT$20.46 million, were transferred two years later, it added.
The association was entrusted by the government to collect the donations, but it did not have any rights to the funds, the committee said.
The committee said that it is to hold a hearing today to address the questions of whether the association was affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and whether its NT$1.37 billion in assets were inappropriately acquired.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
SOVEREIGNTY: The rigs show that Beijing ‘rejects Taiwan’s jurisdiction’ by building in areas where Taipei demands permission to build or alter installations Chinese oil rigs have been sighted just 26 nautical miles (42km), from Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙島), posing a threat to Taiwan’s sovereignty if left unchallenged, a brief published by the Jamestown Foundation on Tuesday said. Pratas Island, 444km from Kaohsiung, is northeast of the South China Sea and houses a Taiwanese garrison. The brief, titled “Rigging the Game: PRC Oil Structures Encroach on Taiwan’s Pratas Island” — referring to the People’s Republic of China — analyzed photographs and said that Beijing’s tools to pressure Taiwan now include oil rigs. “Oil rigs now constitute part of Beijing’s
The Taiwan Experience Education Program (TEEP) has funded short-term internships in Taiwan for more than 4,500 young people from more than 40 countries since 2015, with the goal of attracting and retaining international talent, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. Fifty-five colleges launched 514 projects this year, including in fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, medicine and biotechnology, green energy, and sustainability, it said. The program provides research and practical internships in Taiwan for two to six months, and offers cultural exchange and networking opportunities, the ministry said. For example, National Formosa University’s Embedded System and Autopilot Laboratory developed two solar-powered drones in
RSS