Irked by the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) dillydallying in returning its stolen assets, the Cabinet yesterday called on Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to use his political stature to pressure KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰).
"While we're calling on Lien to face the problem fair and square, we also hope Mayor Ma, who has expressed concern over the issue, will persuade Lien to demonstrate some courage and sincerity to return 479 pieces of property improperly acquired by the party and currently under the investigation of the Control Yuan," Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said.
Lin called on the KMT to furnish related documents to shed light on the thorny issue instead of asking the government to do so.
"It's absolutely preposterous to ask us to produce such documents," he said.
Lin made the remarks yesterday afternoon after the KMT postponed the meeting with officials of the Ministry of Finance and the Cabinet's five-person task force set up to tackle the issue of assets stolen by the KMT.
Claiming yesterday's meeting was "inconvenient," the KMT told Cabinet officials to come back on Friday to discuss the matter with the party's lawyers.
According to Lin, the KMT has canceled similar meetings three times since last month when the Cabinet set up the task force.
"We're disappointed with the KMT's shunning the problem and its violent way of handling the matter," Lin said. "I'm afraid it will be rather hard to reclaim the state assets filched by the KMT if the situation doesn't improve."
To date, not a single piece of property inappropriately acquired by the KMT and pledged to be returned to the state has been returned, Lin said.
The KMT has promised to hand over seven cinemas and two buildings owned by the party. The two buildings are the Shih Chien Building and Shih Chien Hall on Chunghua Road, Taipei. The theaters are located across the country.
Premier Yu Shyi-kun had hoped to see the cinemas and two buildings returned to the state before the Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 22 this year.
Lin also called on Lien to stop lying and deceiving the government and public, as he tenaciously holds on to his dubious family wealth.
In related news, the Alliance to Campaign for Rectifying the Name of Taiwan (
The alliance also plans to mobilize 10,000 people to besiege the headquarters after the Lunar New Year to ask the party to return the assets. The group will also call on the KMT to rename its headquarters the "colonial history museum of Taiwan."
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
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