The KMT yesterday said PFP Chairman James Soong (
"The Chung Hsing Bills Finance case has nothing to do with Soong," said head of the KMT Administration and Management Committee Chang Che-chen (張哲琛) at a press conference yesterday. "The misunderstanding between the party and Soong over this matter is now over and comes to a close."
Held at the KMT's headquarters, the purpose of the press conference was to clarify accusations the party once made against Soong over his alleged embezzlement.
The accusation was made three years ago when Soong was expelled from the KMT for running his own maverick campaign in the 2000 presidential elections. Soong, who ran as an independent, obtained 36 percent of the vote, while Lien, the KMT candidate, came in at a distant third with 23 percent.
During the campaign, the KMT filed a lawsuit against Soong, accusing him of embezzling large sums from party coffers during his tenure as the party's secretary-general. After the election, prosecutors said there wasn't enough evidence to try the Chung Hsing Bills Finance case and the KMT dropped the charges.
It was during that time that the KMT ran a series of negative advertisements targeting Soong's credibility.
"The KMT is deeply sorry for having caused any inconvenience or damage to Soong because of remarks made by KMT officials during the [2000] presidential election," Chang said.
Chang explained Soong's alleged embezzlement by saying that the transactions Soong was involved entailed funds entrusted to Soong by former party chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) to perform various task on the party's agenda.
With regard to another accusation made by the party during the 2000 presidential campaign that Soong had embezzled government money while serving as Taiwan provincial governor, Chang explained that the accusation "was a result of being unfamiliar with government financial allocation procedure."
Chang said that the party's accusation against Soong with regard to embezzlement "has all been a result of misunderstanding."
"The KMT hereby makes the clarification to clear Soong's name and hopes that both parties can let bygones be bygones and move ahead in good faith to work together for a better tomorrow for Taiwan," Chang said.
Media speculation suggests that the KMT made the effort to clear Soong's name as a peace offering to Soong to get him to agree with the KMT's preference for fielding KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) as the presidential candidate.
Denying that the clarification of Soong's charges was motivated by next year's presidential elections, Chang stressed that the only reason behind the party's motive to make the gesture was to let the truth be known.
On behalf of Soong, Chen Cheng-sheng (
Chen said that "Soong has never embezzled a dime from the KMT nor the government and is glad that the KMT's remarks have cleared his name which had been tarnished by the party's previous accusations."
Chen added that "Soong is willing to let bygones be bygones and will now move ahead with his eyes focused, not on the past, but on the future."
Also see story:
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS