The second scheduled talk between the Ministry of Finance and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) over the party's disputed assets ended without any results yesterday, as both parties called into question one another's sincerity in tackling the issue.
The first talk took place on Jan. 16 and never got off the ground, because both sides were locked in an argument over logistical issues surrounding the meeting.
Yesterday's negotiations lasted one-and-a-half hours, with the ministry represented by Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (林全) while the KMT was represented by a team of lawyers headed by Y.R. Lee (李永然).
While the ministry wanted both sides to review basic principles concerning the disposition of the KMT's disputed assets, the KMT, noting that the government chose to tackle the issue now and not during the past three years, questioned the ministry's actions, saying they were motivated by the approaching presidential election.
At a press conference held yesterday afternoon following the meeting with the KMT, Lin denied there was any electoral considerations about the ministry's stance in tackling the issue.
Lin said that it wasn't that the government did not try to tackle the issue during the past three years, but mainly that the process was hampered by the lack of laws governing a political party's assets.
Bills governing disposition of assets improperly obtained by political parties (
Lin said that "the KMT is not sincere in wanting to return its assets because it wants to return only a part and not the entirety of its [disputed] assets."
The KMT also accused the Ministry of the Finance (MOF) of lacking sincerity in tackling the issue.
"After the two talks we've had with the MOF, we are filled with doubts as to whether the ministry is indeed sincere in tackling the party assets issue concerning the KMT," said Lin Yung-jui (林永瑞), deputy directory of the party's Administration and Management Committee, at a press conference held at the KMT's headquarters in Taipei.
Lin Yung-jui alleged that the MOF was dragging out the issue to turn it into a propaganda tool in the run-up to the presidential election.
Lin Yung-jui also expressed dissatisfaction that Lin Chuan presumed that the party's assets were acquired illegally.
Although no consensus was reached during yesterday's discussion, Lin Chuan expressed the ministry's willingness to meet again while the KMT stressed that yesterday's fruitless negotiation would not alter the KMT's attitude toward the disposition of its properties.
According to Lin Yung-jui, the party had, since last September, relinquished 80 percent of the party's 165 properties to their owners.
Lin Yung-jui added that the party is also now handing over its seven movie theaters, the Shih Chien building (實踐大樓) and the Shih Chien Hall (實踐堂) which the party had announced in December that it would relinquish to the original owners.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56