The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which has been attacked over its stolen wealth, released a report on its assets yesterday, acknowledging its previous failure to explain the issue transparently while promising to put future assets into trust and stop operating for-profit corporations.
Despite acknowledging that the asset-acquiring procedures had lacked legitimacy and caused a negative public impression, KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
"It happened during a special period, so there's no point in being too critical about it," Ma said.
"This issue can't be explained under normal circumstances, but I promise to maintain a clear separation of party, state and government in the future. This is our pledge, and the first step to the KMT's rebirth," he said.
The KMT report, entitled "Bidding farewell to the past and explaining to the people," claims to reveal the total value of the party's assets and how they have been handled under different chairmen dating back to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).
According to the report, which KMT Deputy Secretary-General Chang Che-chen (
This makes Ma the poorest chairman, compared with former chairman Lee Teng-hui (
While claiming that Lee Teng-hui, who served as KMT chairman from 1988 to 2000, was responsible for losses amounting to NT$42.7 billion because of bad domestic and foreign investments, the report gave the former chairman some credit for making the biggest profit and bringing assets' value to their peak of NT$91.8 billion in 1998.
"Although the bad investments happened under Lee Teng-hui's chairmanship, he was not the decision-maker in all of the deals, and so it would be unfair to blame him for the entire loss," Chang said yesterday at the party headquarters.
Chang said Lee Teng-hui had actually come up with most of the solutions to the bad investments made under his chairmanship.
The KMT deputy secretary-general said that the KMT would inquire into the legal responsibility of those responsible for the bad investments and request compensation for the party's losses.
Dividing the historical background of the assets into three periods, the report acknowledged that the KMT had used its "own discretion" in handling the assets in the first period -- the "one-party state" regime of Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-kuo (
The second period, from 1988 to 2000, which includes Lee's chairmanship, was labeled as a time when the KMT began to seek cooperation with private business. Investments in stock markets and real estate during the period sparked controversies over the party's involvement in corruption scandals, the report said.
After Lien took over the chairmanship in 2000, the KMT lost its position as governing party to the Democratic Progressive Party and began to "face the asset issue honestly," as both Lien and Ma prioritized the clean-up of party assets.
Under Ma's chairmanship, the KMT has sold five party assets, including its Policy Research and Development department, three media outlets and the party's former headquarters, for a total of NT$11.4 billion.
Most of the income, Chang said, was used to pay pensions amounting to NT$1.6 billion and other personnel fees.
In response to accusations from the Executive Yuan and Examination Yuan that the KMT had only returned 25 pieces of land it had received free from local governments, and demands that it should return 19 movie theaters inherited from the Japanese colonial period, Chang said that the KMT had acquired all of the real estate and theaters legally.
"We gave 56 pieces of land back to the local governments, not 25 ... We returned the plots of land not because they had been illegally acquired, but as a positive response to public expectations," Chang said.
Lee Yung-jan said that the KMT had only directly operated five of the 19 theaters, and would return the total value of NT$300 million to the government.
Looking ahead, the KMT's current priority is to sell its Central Investment Corporation, the party's major asset with the highest value at about NT$2.3 billion, to ease its financial burdens, Chang said.
The money will be pumped into its retirement fund, which includes an annual pension budget of NT$2 billion for 900 party workers and a further NT$900 million for 900 retirees.
While approving the party's efforts to make its assets public, members of the Central Standing Committee said that the KMT should not apologize over the issue, but urged the party to put the assets into trust and withdraw from all private investments.
"The assets will remain an issue even after we publish the report ... The question is whether a political party should have assets," KMT Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (
KMT Legislator Huang Chao-shun (
KMT Legislator John Chiang (
"The KMT's management of the assets during the party-state period made a contribution to the country ... We don't need to explain anything," he said.
Pledging to sell the Central Investment Corporation before 2008, Ma promised that the KMT would put the remaining assets into trust.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS