Legislators from several parties lashed out yesterday at first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) for gains made after her assets were put into trust, adding that President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) pledge to stay away from the stock market was a lie.
"Given that Chen announced during his re-election that his family members would not buy and sell stocks from then on, why did Wu still buy Fubon No. 1 REIT with a face value of about NT$40 million?" Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) said.
Lo made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature's Finance Committee. His comments were echoed by other legislators.
According to the latest report on public officials' assets released by the Control Yuan on Tuesday, Wu had NT$48.32 million in stocks, up from the NT$8.19 million declared in a June 11, 2004 report.
Tuesday's report also showed that the first couple's savings had dropped to NT$3.31 million from the NT$42 million they declared on Nov. 7 last year.
If Wu retained the right to make decisions about her investments even after she put her stock assets into a trust, then it was not a real trust, Lo said.
"If the members of the first family were still involved in the stock market, it was no wonder that they were accused of speculating in stocks," Lo said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Fai (
The problem, he said, was the heads of the Fubon group have been very close to the first family.
"Given that close relationship, Wu's purchase of Fubon No. 1 REIT shares would inevitably arouse suspicion about the possibility of insider trading," Fai said.
People First Party Legislator Wu ching-chih (吳清池) said he didn't understand why Wu had not stopped making stock investments.
"I thought the first family was already very rich. The president should be able to do a better job of reining in Wu's investments," Wu said.
The Presidential Office yesterday dismissed speculation that Wu was still playing the stock market, saying she used NT$40 million to purchase mutual funds, not shares.
"The first lady has not bought more stocks since putting her assets into trust in 2004," the Presidential Office's Department of Public Affairs said in a statement. "To invest in mutual funds is not against the spirit of the law, nor is it an excessive investment in stocks."
Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
RSS