Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) camp yesterday raised questions about Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rival Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) relationship with the Taipei Fubon Bank during his time as Taipei mayor.
Hsieh campaign spokesman Hsu Kuo-yong (徐國勇) told a press conference that Ma should explain why Ma defied the Taipei City Council and ordered the city government to deposit all treasury assets in Taipei Fubon Bank. Hsu said Ma made the decision only one month before leaving office in December 2004 and did so without first holding a public tender or other transparent selection process.
Taipei Bank merged with Fubon Bank to become Taipei Fubon Bank on Jan. 1, 2005.
Hsu said the city government had also failed to re-evaluate Taipei Bank's assets after Taipei City's deposit but before the merger.
"The difference in the bank's asset value is estimated at NT$6 billion [US$191.6 million]," Hsu said. "The Ma camp says NT$6 billion is `small money,' but is it?"
Hsu said he could not figure out how the Taipei City Government, which owes the state treasury a significant sum in health insurance fees and has cited financial difficulties to avoid paying those fees, could possibly consider NT$6 billion "small money."
Ordering the treasury to move its assets to Taipei Fubon Bank may have constituted a violation of the Government Procurement Law (
Ma also owes the public an explanation on whether Taipei Fubon Bank had earned interest from the city government's deposits, Hsu said. If so, what has this cost the city treasury, he asked.
Hsu said Taipei Bank did not charge interest before the merger because the bank was a municipal agency at that time. After the merger, it became a privately run company.
Hsu also said the Taipei City Government had earned less profit from the bank since its merger and had far fewer board members than the Fubon Group.
Taipei City has a 15 percent stake in the company, but only two board members, while Fubon Group has an 18 percent stake and seven board members.
"Such a deal is miraculous" for Fubon Group, he said.
No response was unavailable from Ma's campaign office as of press time.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS