Government officials yesterday clarified accounts following a media report that said the state-owned Taiwan Post Co was asked by the government to deposit NT$10 billion (US$324 million) in a bank affiliated with a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker.
The latest issue of Next magazine published yesterday reported that Vice Premier Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) demanded Taiwan Post deposit NT$10 billion in Sunny Bank (陽信銀行), one day after DPP Legislator Hsueh Ling (薛凌) and her husband Chen Shen-hung (陳勝宏) were charged with involvement in a loan scandal at the bank last year.
Chen, a former DPP lawmaker, is chairman of the bank.
PHOTO: CNA
The report said Taiwan Post deposited NT$37 billion in some questionable banks, NT$10 billion of which was deposited in Sunny Bank. The bank has only returned NT$6.5 billion after Chiou had Taiwan Post defer payment four times.
clarification
Executive Yuan spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (
"It's wrong to accuse the government of aiding Sunny Bank. The government will work out a plan for Sunny Bank to repay the loan interest and principal with the bank. The allegation of the report was unfair to the bank and to the government," Shieh said.
"When a bank is having a financial crisis, the government has the obligation to step in to keep depositors of the banks from suffering losses," he said.
When approached by reporters outside the Executive Yuan, Chiou also dismissed the allegation made by the report that he embezzled the Taiwan Post fund to aid Hsueh.
Earlier yesterday at a press conference, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) called the postal company's decision into question, saying that Sunny Bank's credibility had been sabotaged after suffering from an alleged embezzlement scandal last year, in which Hsueh and Chen were charged with seeking illegal loans with fake documents from the Sunny Bank.
Lin questioned postal company president Wu Min-yu (吳民佑), who attended the conference, over whether DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) had received the money as a campaign contribution.
In response, Wu confirmed the magazine's report, but denied that Chiou was responsible for the company making the deposit.
He said the postal company did not take the initiative to put the money in Sunny Bank until officials from the company participated in a meeting presided over by the Banking Bureau, under the Financial Supervisory Commission, and the Central Deposit Insurance Co.
tight-lipped
Meeting participants prompted the decision to have the Taiwan Post Co store the money in Sunny Bank in a bid to "maintain overall financial order," Wu said. He remained tight-lipped, however, when asked by KMT legislators regarding details of the meeting.
At a separate setting yesterday, Ministry of Transportation and Communications Vice Minister Ho Nuan-hsuen (
Taiwan Post currently keeps part of the postal fund at 34 state-run and private banks. The postal fund has topped NT$4 trillion, but only NT$722.5 billion are saved in these banks, he said.
Ho said that the Sunny Bank has a rating of AAA- and is rated B by the post office itself. The amount saved in Sunny Bank is approximately NT$9.5 billion.
In addition to Sunny, Ho said that the Taiwan Post also has savings in the Chinese Bank (中華商業銀行), Bowa Bank (寶華銀行), Asia Trust (亞洲信託) and other banks.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS