The state's highest watchdog body, the Control Yuan, yesterday interviewed former director-general of the National Police Administration Ding Yuan-chin (
In a press conference afterwards, Ding said that the sources of the money which he spent in purchasing the house were all legitimate.
Ding owns a house in a high-class villa community called Vision City (
Last week two New Party Taipei City councilors claimed that Ding purchased the house at half price from the construction firm Hualon Corp (華隆集團). They also said that the price of the house was too high for someone with Ding's salary, that there was no record of Ding having taken out a loan and that his bank savings had not decreased.
There was an obvious implication that Ding was in receipt of undeclared financial assets which may have been acquired illegally.
Control Yuan members Li Shen-yi (
Ding last week released a written statement in which he stated that he was not corrupt. Yesterday at 3pm he made his first public appearance after being accused by the city councilors, taking part in a two-hour interview.
Ding said the price of the Vision City house was NT$325,000 per ping (one ping =3.3m2), not the rumored NT$200,000.
He said this was the market price in 1999, the year he bought the house.
He said the money which he used to buy the house included the profit gained from the sale of an apartment on Taipei's Hsinsheng North Road (
"And the friend is not Ong Da-ming (翁大銘)," he said. Ong is the CEO of the Hualon Corp and the person with whom Ding was rumored to have a financial connection.
The Control Yuan members said that according to their findings, the 106-ping Vision City house cost Ding NT$38.15 million.
As for why Ding's bank savings had not decreased, Ding said that he had borrowed the money from his friend in his son's name, using another apartment in Taipei's Peining Road (北寧路) as collateral.
The Peining Road apartment was also targeted by councilors, but Ding said he bought the apartment for his son in 1988, using money left by his father.
He said he was also planning to sell that apartment.
"That is to say, I am using two apartments to purchase one house," he said.
Li and Chao, meanwhile, said the Control Yuan would continue to investigate and establish the truth as soon as possible.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS