The struggle between the heirs to Evergreen Group (長榮集團) yesterday escalated as the three older brothers reportedly took drastic measures to undermine their younger brother’s accession to the helm of the family-run shipping and transportation empire.
The dramatic shift came two months after Evergreen Group founder Chang Yung-fa (張榮發) died on Jan. 20 and left a December 2014 will that named his youngest son, Chang Kuo-wei, (張國煒), chairman of Eva Airways (長榮航空) and the only son of his second wife, as his successor and the sole inheritor of his estate worth billions of New Taiwan dollars.
Chang Yung-fa’s eldest son, Chang Kuo-hua (張國華), led his two brothers by his father’s first wife in moving to dissolve the group’s top management team during an extraordinary board meeting, effectively stripping Chang Kuo-wei of the chairmanship, local media said, without naming sources.
In the absence of a chairman or management team, senior executives are to be dispatched to oversee the conglomerate’s subsidiaries, reports said.
The move reportedly aimed to deny Chang Kuo-wei leadership of the group after he allegedly disclosed their father’s will before the family agreed on the succession issue, the media said.
As the chairmanship is not protected by the law, disputes might boil down to the size of stakes held by rival heirs, reports said.
An Evergreen Group filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange showed that the three older brothers hold stakes of 34.7 percent and 54.56 percent respectively in the group’s main subsidiaries, Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運) and Evergreen International Storage & Transportation Corp (榮運), compared with 6.83 percent and 2.3 percent held by Chang Kuo-wei.
Chang Kuo-wei might even lose the chairmanship of EVA Airways, reports said.
He holds a 14.67 percent stake in the airline, compared with 31.65 percent held by his stepbrothers, who might seek to oust him during the company’s board meeting next month, or during a board of directors election scheduled for June, reports said.
A move to oust Chang Kuo-wei from the airline would require support from independent board members, who were installed under his watch, reports said.
Chang Kuo-wei could also seek endorsement from foreign institutional investors, who hold a 26.38 percent stake in EVA Airways and can forge alliances with others to bolster his stake in the airline by NT$4 billion (US$119.16 million), reports said.
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
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
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a