Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) is probably the richest politician in Taiwan, if a claim made on Friday -- that his assets are worth NT$1.34 billion -- is true. But the Democratic Pro-gressive Party (DPP) suspects he is worth even more.
KMT-People First Party (PFP) alliance spokesman Alex Tsai (蔡正元), accompanied by Lien's lawyers and accountants, announced at a news conference on Friday that Lien's assets totaled NT$1,339,278,374 as of the end of last month. The total includes cash savings, real estate, bonds, shares and jewellery, among other assets.
Lien took the initiative to disclose the value of his assets after continued accusations by the DPP about his family fortune.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMESN
But the furor over his assets didn't stop there. DPP Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (
Tuan accused Lien of quoting values for his real estate properties that are lower than their actual market value, and said that some properties have been registered in the names of Lien's children or relatives.
Tsai responded to these accusations by saying that all Tuan's information was based on newspaper and magazine reports and challenged the legislator to present proof to substantiate his charges.
"If Tuan can't produce proof, he should step down as legislator," Tsai said.
Commenting on the furor over Lien's assets, political observer Chiu Hei-yuan (
Lien, with PFP Chairman James Soong (
"Although it seems that the KMT has taken the initiative to reveal the value of Lien Chan's assets, the thing is that, no matter who initiated it, debate over Lien's personal fortune is not beneficial to his overall electoral outlook," Chiu said.
"The more Lien reveals [about his family assets], the more questions will arise regarding these assets," he said.
The DPP distributed 50,000 campaign pamphlets last Monday that accused the Lien family of having illegally accumulated assets worth NT$20 billion. The pamphlet also insinuates that Lien and his father, Lien Chen-tung (
Lien Chan on Friday filed a libel suit against Chen and three other DPP officials over these accusations and argued that the true value of his personal assets was NT$1.34 billion and not NT$20 billion as the DPP had claimed.
Chiu said that, to the public at large, the whole issue of where Lien's personal assets come from remains an urgent question.
"Whether the figure of NT$20 billion is accurate or simply the result of DPP speculation, there must be something there to have started the rumor," Chiu said.
"The big difference between the rumored NT$20 billion and Lien's figure of NT$1.34 billion will continue to leave questions in the minds of the public," Chiu said.
Noting that calculating the value of Lien's personal assets is a complicated issue, Chiu said that "maybe the issue is so complicated that even Lien himself can't present a clear figure."
Chiu suggested that "Lien should once and for all clearly present the total value of his personal assets."
"How much Lien's assets are worth is one issue. How he acquired and amassed his family wealth is another issue," Chiu said.
"Coming up with more information about and values for his assets every other day will only cast doubt over his honesty. People will wonder why he didn't simply reveal everything in the first place," Chiu said.
He also said that the KMT-PFP alliance's attacks on Chen's personal assets is "unconvincing."
Chiu was referring to a statement Tsai had made on Friday that the value of Chen's stocks and bonds had increased by 125 percent between 2000 and 2002. Tsai said Chen had experienced a surge of wealth since becoming president and asked "whether any secret deals or corruption had been involved that enabled Chen to make such a profitable investment in stocks and bonds."
"It is impossible for the alliance to say that Chen's assets would have surged a great deal, because the current overall situation would not allow it," Chiu said.
Lin Yuan-huei (
"Putting the figure of NT$20 billion aside, people still wonder how Lien was able to accumulate a wealth of NT$1.34 billion, given that he and his father are both civil servants," Lin said.
"The KMT argued that the fortune was the result of the family's investment in stocks, but this argument prompted people to come back with questions about how his family could have been so lucky to have amassed such great wealth," Lin said.
According to Lin many people's general impression is that Lien is a simple-minded man who just happened to be born into a wealthy, prestigious family.
"Given the fact that Lien's daughter Lien Hui-hsin (連惠心) purchased a tract of farmland at the age of a mere two years old, however, suggests that Lien Chan is not as naive as people think," Lin said.
"Lien's family assets are his biggest weakness," added Lin, "because the public is dubious and filled with too many questions about how he has acquired his massive assets."
In response to the DPP's accusations that Lien had concealed many family investments, Tsai yesterday held another press conference about foundations related to the family and donations that had been made by Lien and his wife, Lien Fang-yu (
Lien's running mate, Soong, is evidently not poor either.
According to information from the Control Yuan, in December 1996 -- the last time Soong declared his assets, when he served as Provincial Governor -- Soong and his wife, Chen Wan-shui (陳萬水), had cash savings of NT$7,475,240 and four pieces of real estate.
Under the Law of Asset Disclosure by Public Functionaries (
Both Lien and Soong had been criticized for failing to report all their assets to the Control Yuan.
In July the Control Yuan fined Soong NT$80,000 for failing to report land and a house in California, the value of which is estimated at about NT$4,412,265. In 1998 Lien was fined NT$300,000 for failing to report for five consecutive years, 1993 to 1997, the NT$36,280,000 he had transferred to the account of Wu Tse-yuan (伍澤元), a former member of the KMT.
In February 2000, Control Yuan members investigating the Chung Hsiung Bills Finance scandal (興票案) accused Soong of having failed to declare the California property, more than NT$160 million in surplus election funds and more than NT$140 million which they suspected had been deposited in a friend's bank account.
In the Chung Hsiung Bills Finance scandal, which was uncovered in 1999 in the run-up to the 2000 presidential election, Soong was alleged to have embezzled funds from the KMT.
Soong has also come under fire because his son Allen Soong (
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