The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday announced it would terminate a contract with a financial trust company handling its party assets, in a move that would allow the party to resume its grip on assets estimated at NT$33 billion.
Fearing that the KMT will take the opportunity to sell assets it improperly acquired during its 50-year reign, Cabinet officials yesterday unleashed a fresh round of rebukes, and threatened to revoke the operating licenses of China Television Company (CTV) and Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) on Friday, if the companies are found to have violated related laws.
KMT Spokesperson Alex Tsai (
"While we don't rule out any possibilities for disposing of our party assets, we thought it might be a good idea to adopt the Hua Hsia model to do so," he said.
Hua Hsia Investment Holding Co (
Through the party-run Hua Hsia, the KMT owns a 65 percent stake in CTV, a 96.95 percent stake in BCC and a 10 percent stake in Taiwan Television (TTV).
On Monday, Hua Hsia replaced two board members with people from Sycamore Ventures, part of US-based Citibank Venture Capital, a subsidiary of Citicorp.
The Broadcasting and Television Law (
The Government Information Office (GIO) has threatened to withhold the renewal of the operating licenses to CTV and BCC on Friday if the companies are found to have violated the laws.
About three years ago, the KMT's party assets were estimated at over NT$73 billion. The figure dwindled to nearly NT$30 billion due to the financial losses of Hua Hsia. Frustrated by its financial embarrassment, Hua-Hsia has been desperately trying to raise funds by borrowing money or selling its stakes in sub-companies.
Party authorities are hoping to get NT$8 billion (US$235 million) by selling the shares in CTV, BCC, the Central Motion Picture Corp, the Central Daily News and China Daily News in a single block offering before next year.
The party is required by the Broadcasting and Television Law to sell its stakes in media outlets by Dec. 26 because political parties and the government are no longer allowed to own, fund or assume key positions in media outlets.
Calling the KMT "a liar," Cabinet Spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) yesterday questioned the KMT's desperate efforts to get rid of party assets in exchange for money.
"Why they're trying to get rid of their party assets is unfathomable to me," Chen said. "What they should've done instead is to keep their promise and return the assets they promised to state coffers."
KMT officials pledged last year that it would relinquish nine of its properties to the original owners. Those properties are seven movie theaters, the Shih Chien building and the Shih Chien Hall.
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
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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