Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday accused the Kuma Academy of illegal fundraising, saying it engaged in politics during its public welfare activities.
The academy, a nonprofit civil defense organization, last year launched a fundraising campaign named “the Project of Promoting Civil Defense Education in Taiwan” via the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s public welfare fundraising platform.
At a news conference yesterday, KMT Legislator Jonathan Lin (林沛祥) cited publicly available data as saying that the project last year covered almost all of the academy’s own agenda and events, with up to NT$1.5 million (US$45,645) allocated as what he called propaganda budget.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Another NT$3 million was appropriated to a civil defense-themed sports event named “Stand up as Taiwan,” which was the only walking event held by the academy last year, he said.
However, the event was part of a political campaign, he said, adding that the Executive Yuan’s Central Taiwan Joint Services Center Deputy Director Wu Yin-ning (吳音寧) joined the walk, and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) flag was pictured in a lot of event photos.
The project has collected more than NT$15 million in funds, KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) said.
The ministry’s platform aims to effectively manage fundraising activities and leverage social resources to promote public welfare, especially for disadvantaged groups, she said.
Those who already have fundraising capabilities such as the academy should not compete with the disadvantaged for the resources on the platform, Wang said, adding that the academy had secured funds on its own fundraising Web site before.
It not only illegally raised funds, but also crowded out other fundraisers, such as for elderly people living alone, people with rare diseases or physical disabilities, and many other child welfare groups, she said.
The ministry should promptly investigate the academy, as its public welfare project was an act of “exploitation” for the benefit of the DPP, she added.
The academy’s activities contravened Article 3 of Charity Donations Destined For Social Welfare Funds Implementation Regulations (公益勸募條例), which forbids groups or individuals who engage in politics from participating in public welfare fundraising, KMT Legislator Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said.
The budget of NT$410 million appropriated by the Ministry of the Interior for its Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Training Program had a budget item called “parent-child civil defense fair,” projected to cost NT$9 million, he said.
However, civil defense fairs are held almost exclusively by the academy, and it has raised NT$2 million for such an event, Lo said.
“Given such fundraising capabilities, why would the government subsidize the academy’s project?” he asked.
Kuma Academy chief executive officer Chu Fu-ming (朱福銘) said the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party have been smearing the organization’s reputation since China’s Taiwan Affairs Office listed it as “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists.”
Academy chairwoman Liu Wen (劉文) said the academy applied for a fundraiser as required by the law, with a plan submitted in 2023.
The project items are in line with the academy’s core business of education, including lectures on civil defense for schools and non-profit organizations, civil defense fairs for children and social media content about civil defense knowledge, she said.
Asked whether the academy crowded out disadvantaged groups, Liu said the platform allows people to see all legally approved public welfare fundraising projects and is not a donation channel.
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