Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) yesterday said all KMT assets had been acquired legally, but added that the party must divest itself of them “within a short period of time.”
Speaking at the party’s Central Evaluation Committee meeting, Wu said that no KMT assets had been obtained illegally because if the KMT had any illegal assets, the former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration would have confiscated them.
“However, our party assets are very limited,” he said.
All of the party’s assets are under the management of the Central Investment Co, in which the KMT is a shareholder, he said. If the company does not make money, the party does not benefit, he said.
Wu said that this year the party had spent only one-third of what it used to spend on the legislative elections and one-fifth on the presidential poll.
“How much money we spend is not important,” he said. “What is more important is whether we are united and determined.”
While the party had a net value of NT$20 billion (US$625 million) last year, Wu said that figure had dwindled to NT$10 billion. If the party rid itself of all its assets, Wu said, the money would go to party employee pensions, severance payments and utility bills. If there were any money left, it would be donated to civic agencies and disadvantaged groups, he said.
While the party used to have more than 4,700 full-time employees, Wu said the number had been cut to 900.
Acknowledging criticism of the government from both the public and the party, Wu said winning the legislative and presidential elections had caused him more anxiety than relief in light of the global financial crisis and natural disasters that have struck Taiwan since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May.
“Since we elect the best candidate to lead the country, the party has no choice but to give him full backing,” Wu said.
“We don’t have a second choice. We must also support the government so it will perform impressively,” he said.
Regarding the relationship between the party and the government, he said that it had improved.
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
‘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
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
RSS