The Ministry of Education sued the China Youth Corp (CYC) yesterday for illegal possession of government assets and accused the organization of breach of contract after it failed to transfer partial ownership of the Chientan Overseas Youth Activity Center as agreed in 1988.
But the CYC said the ministry's claim was preposterous because the dispute was settled long ago.
Ministry of Education Secretary-General Chuang Kuo-rong (莊國榮) said the CYC must meet one of the ministry's two demands for the lawsuit to be dropped.
PHOTO: CNA
The organization could either repay the subsidy the ministry gave it between 1988 to 1990 to construct a building named after former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), or transfer a percentage of the property rights equal to the subsidy.
The CYC received a NT$160 million (US$5.2 million) subsidy, but taking into account inflation and a 5 percent interest rate, the organization would have to pay the ministry much more, he said.
If the organization does not give the ministry a share of the property rights, it must pay NT$411 million, plus an additional NT$30 million for 17 years of interest, he said.
"The ministry's main desire is to gain rightful ownership of the building, not the NT$411 million," Chuang said.
The CYC, however, said the two sides had agreed last December that the organization would repay the original NT$160 million subsidy because it would be a logistical nightmare to manage the building if one-third of it belonged to the ministry.
"How the Ministry of Education arrived at its calculations is puzzling," CYC secretary-general Wang Fu-sheng (王福生) said.
The ministry said the dispute has not been settled because the last meeting it held with the CYC -- in April -- was inconclusive.
"In that meeting, the ministry gave the CYC the option of either paying NT$411 million or giving it a share of the property rights, but CYC insisted on repaying the original amount only," Chuang said.
No agreement was reached," he said.
The CYC was established in 1952 during dictator Chiang Kai-shek's (蔣介石) adminstration to educate young people about patriotism through fun activities.
During the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rule, the organization built activity centers around the country.
The ministry has given the CYC NT$782 million in subsidies since 1957, Chuang said, adding that "this was the classic example of how the KMT unjustifiably favored its own affiliates."
The ministry's lawsuit is part of a series of legal moves the government and the Democratic Progressive Party plan to take against the KMT to force the return of all the illegal assets that KMT purportedly obtained during its rule.
KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (
"But the DPP should not bring up the KMT assets issue only before elections. Don't play this game every time an election approaches," Wu said yesterday at KMT headquarters.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
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