The first tantalizing tidbits from a year-long investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the Sueddeutsche Zeitung and more than 100 other media organizations, including CommonWealth Magazine, into a massive trove of leaked files from a Panamanian law firm were released on Sunday, shining a spotlight on the secretive world of offshore financial holdings.
The cache of 11.5 million files dating from 1977 through last year has been dubbed the “Panama Papers,” and represents a treasure chest far more significant than WikiLeaks, former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden’s revelations about global surveillance, or the HSBC files last year.
More than 16,000 Taiwanese investors are among the list of people in more than 200 nations and territories whose 214,000 offshore shell companies are mentioned in the files of law firm Mossack Fonseca.
More information is to come in the days and weeks ahead, although the ICIJ said it would not release the full list of companies and people linked to the Panama Papers until early next month.
What is known now is that 143 politicians, including 12 current or former heads of state, their relatives and close associates apparently used Mossack Fonseca’s services to help shield vast wealth. It is also clear that several prominent businesspeople and celebrities are likely to have a lot of explaining to do.
The Kremlin said that the details leaked about alleged connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin provide no new information. China is likely to block any leaks about the financial dealings of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) relatives the way it did a Bloomberg News expose in 2012.
While other public figures named have also denied any wrongdoing, several governments on Monday said they would be investigating potential wrongdoing, including money laundering, drug trafficking, sanctions busting and tax evasion.
While sheltering assets in offshore tax havens is not illegal in a lot of nations, the very rich — just like many global corporations — have access to options that the average taxpayer or small business owner does not, and there has been growing evidence over the past few years that national treasuries the world over are losing out as a result — as is the global economy.
It is clear that governments, individually and collectively, will have to work much harder to ensure that reforms to the international financial system enacted in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis are enforced and transparency becomes the rule, not the exception.
This is a Herculean task, as authorities in nations big and small are often hampered by a lack of resources to track financial information and investigate investor identities, something CommonWeath recently highlighted with a cover story on the spread of “red wealth” in Taiwan.
The magazine’s report said that despite all the national security ramifications involved in Chinese capital being invested in Taiwan, the monitoring systems in place barely scrape the surface, especially when Chinese investors use proxies and third-nation shell companies to invest in Taiwan. Chinese investors have made inroads in a multitude of Taiwanese businesses and projects, including wastewater treatment plants, well-known brands and property development in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), it said.
The abuse of laws regulating shell companies and offshore tax havens has become a cancer eating away at the global finance economy and threatening the national security of many nations, not just Taiwan.
The ICIJ, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, CommonWealth, other media outlets and the more than 370 journalists in nearly 80 nations, including three from Taiwan, who have been involved in the probe into the Panama Papers are owed a huge thanks for their efforts. We eagerly await the next installments.
You wish every Taiwanese spoke English like I do. I was not born an anglophone, yet I am paid to write and speak in English. It is my working language and my primary idiom in private. I am more than bilingual: I think in English; it is my language now. Can you guess how many native English speakers I had as teachers in my entire life? Zero. I only lived in an English-speaking country, Australia, in my 30s, and it was because I was already fluent that I was able to live and pursue a career. English became my main language during adulthood
Somehow, US intelligence identified “the Houthis’ top missile guy” and pinpointed his exact location. At 1348 hours (Washington time), March 15, President Trump’s national security advisor Mike Waltz texted, “positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building.” The unsuspecting Romeo entered. High above, the drone monitoring the building registered a flash. When the smoke cleared, Mr. Waltz texted, “…And it’s now collapsed.” RIP. The star-crossed “top missile guy” had been target number one in the now uproarious US Navy bombing campaign on that Sunday against the Yemeni rebels who have been holding the Red Sea hostage since October 19,
Taiwan on Monday celebrated Freedom of Speech Day. The commemoration is not an international day, and was first established in Tainan by President William Lai (賴清德) in 2012, when he was mayor of that city. The day was elevated to a national holiday in 2016 by then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). Lai chose April 7, because it marks the anniversary of the death of democracy advocate Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕), who started Freedom Era Weekly to promote freedom of expression. Thirty-six years ago, a warrant for Deng’s arrest had been issued after he refused to appear in court to answer charges of
The Opinion page has published several articles and editorials over the past few weeks addressing Taiwan’s efforts to leverage unique or strong aspects of its culture to increase international awareness of the nation. These have included submissions by foreign journalists and overseas students, highlighting how bubble milk tea, Guinness World Record attempts, the entertainment sectors, impressive scenery, world-class cuisine and important contributions to the high-tech supply chain can enhance Taiwan’s recognition overseas and therefore its soft power. That entails competing for attention in already crowded sectors. Other nations, after all, offer popular entertainment exports, beautiful scenic spots and great food.
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