The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday accused the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of overseeing a “witch hunt” against its opponents, after the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee requested materials from the party for an investigation into the controversial sale of the Zhongxing Shanzhuang (中興山莊) plot.
In 2005, developer Yuanlih Group bought parcels of the land, which houses the KMT’s Institute of Revolutionary Practice, from the party for NT$3.83 billion (US$127.63 million at the current exchange rate), with the aim of building a residential high-rise.
KMT Administration and Management Committee director Chiu Da-chan (邱大展) said that after receiving the committee’s request to review its files, the KMT opened its doors, as it has nothing to hide.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
However, he called the request “foul play” and described it as nothing more than a “political maneuver.”
The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee demanded to review files related to the party’s annual income and expenditure, as well as meeting minutes from the 1950s and 1960s, as part of the probe into whether the KMT illegally acquired the plot in Taipei’s Wenshan District (文山).
The legality of the sale was questioned after Yeh Sung-jen (葉頌仁), whose father owned four parcels of the land, sought a ruling from the committee after he failed to convince a court that KMT officials forced his father to sell them the land in 1962.
The committee asked the Taipei City Government not to issue the developer a construction permit due to the controversy, but in July last year it did so anyway as part of urban renewal efforts.
Chiu said that despite the Supreme Court in 2011 ruling that there was no coercion involved when the KMT purchased the land from Yeh’s father, the committee has continued with the probe, holding two hearings in 2017 and another last month.
Besides trying to smear the KMT, the committee is seeking evidence so that it can retaliate against Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who approved the construction permit, he said.
It is “regrettable” to see the lengths to which the committee is willing to go to take down its enemies, he added.
“If that is not a witch hunt, then I do not know what is,” Chiu said.
Committee spokesman Sun Pin (孫斌) urged the KMT not to politicize the probe, saying that the committee made the request after the party sent the committee a letter welcoming it to view the files.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang and CNA
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS