The daughter of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) accused Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members yesterday of taking money from her father when they were running for public office but not declaring it.
Describing the money laundering scandal enveloping her father as the result of “political strife,” a visibly angry Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤) called the honesty of all politicians — both in the DPP and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — into question, saying she wondered whether they ever truthfully declared their political donations or leftover campaign funds.
“Oh, yes, the KMT wants us dead. Chen Shui-bian is their No. 1 enemy,” she said. “If Chen Shui-bian were dead, [President] Ma Ying-jeou would not have to do anything and would easily get elected. It doesn’t matter that his approval rating is as low as 1 percent or he sells out Taiwan to China.”
Chen Hsing-yu, known for her quick temper and sharp tongue, lambasted DPP members she said had taken money from her father but now pretended to be clean. She singled out former premiers Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) as well as Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊).
Her outburst came in response to questions from reporters as she headed into her office yesterday morning.
The former president created a political shockwave last Thursday when he apologized for failing to fully declare his campaign funds and for wiring a large sum overseas, while denying embezzling money from the government or being involved in money laundering. He said his wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) had been in charge of the couple’s finances and that he knew nothing about them.
Chen Shui-bian’s office later said that more than US$20 million had been sent abroad.
Prosecutors have said they believe Wu used figureheads, including her husband, brother, son, daughter-in-law, daughter and son-in-law, to wire money overseas.
Saying her father had told her to keep quiet, Chen Hsing-yu was trying to call her mother on her cellphone to tell her that she was going public even as she yelled at reporters that the alleged scandal was a political attack on her family.
“It is OK that I die, but I cannot die for nothing,” she said. “Before I die, I want the public to know who took the money.”
She criticized the campaign finance laws as “unreasonable” and said that it was not fair that her father was taking all the blame.
She said that all she knew about the scandal was that all the money that had been wired overseas came from her father’s surplus campaign funds, but that she did not know if money laundering was involved.
When asked about why her parents wired the money abroad, she said: “Do you think it was legal to keep it here?” before asking if reporters knew why and where KMT officials had sent their money overseas.
She also shouted at a reporter who asked her why the money had not been deposited under her parents’ names, but under those of her and her brother and other family members.
“Do you think that would work? If you ask around, people will tell you they always use figureheads,” she said.
She said she had not known there was an overseas bank account in her name until she read about it in the newspapers. She said she had never thought she had so much money.
“If I had that much money, I could have just stayed home. Why do I have to work so hard?” she said before stepping into her office.
Meanwhile, Hsieh’s office issued a statement denying that he had taken money from Chen Shui-bian during “this year’s presidential election,” adding that it was natural for party members to help raise funds for candidates.
A staffer for Su denied that he had ever taken money from the former president, but thanked him for his campaigning efforts.
Chen Chu said she had received “resources distributed by the party headquarters” when she was running for Kaohsiung mayor in 2006. She said it had been the former president’s duty to raise funds for the DPP given his seniority, but his problem now had nothing to do with party fundraising.
The DPP’s Taipei chapter decided yesterday to suspend the party rights of Wu, her son Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) and daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚). They have 15 days to appeal the decision with the DPP’s Central Review Committee.
DPP Secretary-General Wang Tuoh (王拓), speaking on behalf of the party, said that if there were widespread problems in declaring leftover campaign funds across party lines, then the law should be amended to resolve the problem.
However, the DPP did not know about individual fund declarations, Wang said.
Meanwhile the DPP caucus convener and financial management director Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said most of what Chen Hsing-yu said was true, and that he had received fundraising help from her father.
However, in regards to political contributions, Chen Shui-bian had opened the biggest Pandora’s box in politics, he said.
Every political party and figure has problems of this nature — the problem was not who received money from whom, but that there was no firm set of laws to regulate fundraising, Ker said.
In an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) yesterday, DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that she expected the party’s anti-corruption committee to investigate all members who may have involvement in corruption.
The committee has the authority to initiate investigations and to rule in any corruption cases, Tsai said after a meeting with DPP representatives yesterday. In addition to the former president, the committee would “investigate all the cases that occurred in the past,” so that the DPP could be answerable to the public, she said.
She also said the DPP will rely on small donations in the future
Meanwhile, Ker said that while the Chen Shui-bian scandal would hurt fundraising efforts in the short run, the party would continue to push its small-donations program, since it would be beneficial in the long run, the Central News Agency reported.
In related news, Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien told reporters yesterday that any public official found to have helped the former president deposit large sums of money abroad will be punished.
“The Control Yuan will investigate any crimes or malfeasance committed by government officials, but we must discuss how and when we should intervene [in the investigation of this case],” he said.
“Former president Chen’s case involves not only the former president but also the former director-general of the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau [Yeh Sheng-mao (葉盛茂)] and may also involve other government officials,” he said.
“Those who have helped Chen with his bad deeds should also be brought to justice,” he said.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
HOTEL HIRING: An official said that hoteliers could begin hiring migrant workers next year, but must adhere to a rule requiring a NT$2,000 salary hike for Taiwanese The government is to allow the hospitality industry to recruit mid-level migrant workers for housekeeping and three other lines of work after the Executive Yuan yesterday approved a proposal by the Ministry of Labor. A shortage of workers at hotels and accommodation facilities was discussed at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee. A 2023 survey conducted by the Tourism Administration found that Taiwan’s lodging industry was short of about 6,600 housekeeping and cleaning workers, the agency said in a report to the committee. The shortage of workers in the industry is being studied, the report said. Hotel and Lodging Division Deputy Director Cheng
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
RSS