The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) former financial prowess stemmed from concessions that the party granted businesses it operated, as well as a “special foreign exchange” regimen that applied exclusively to KMT members during the party-state era, which was independent of the regular foreign exchange system, academics said.
Speaking at a symposium last week focusing on democracy pioneer Fu Cheng (傅正) and the KMT’s assets, Taiwan Institute of Economic Research southern branch director Jason Kao (高仁山) said that the KMT regime shortly after it arrived in Taiwan created a special foreign exchange system.
The system allowed KMT-run businesses to bypass restrictions that the party otherwise imposed on foreign currency transactions, imports and exports, which in turn helped them gain an advantage over their competitors and monopolize the market.
While the special foreign exchange system was only available to businesses run by KMT members, other businesses often resorted to bribery and undue networking to be included in the system, which led to the rise of special foreign exchange brokers, negatively affecting the economy, people’s livelihoods and the sociopolitical climate, Kao said.
The KMT meddled with monopolistic state-run enterprises, such as CPC Corp, Taiwan, Ill-Gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee deputy researcher Yang Chen-yu (楊鎮宇) said, adding that CPC paid NT$1 commission for every NT$8.5 it made through the sale of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and natural gas in the 1970s to KMT-operated Ruei Hua Co (瑞華公司), the KMT-appointed “official distributor” of fuels.
Ruei Hua Co was dissolved in 1978 and replaced by the now-defunct department of liquefied gas supply under the Veteran Affairs Council, which continued to levy commission for the KMT’s benefit and paid “rent” to the KMT and its Yu Tai Co (裕台公司), which owned most of the land on which gas filling plants were located, Yang said.
Even though the sale of LPG was opened to free competition in 1993, it was not until KMT-controlled Central Investment Co and Kuang Hua Co (光華公司) in 2002 disposed of shares they held in other LPG firms that the KMT officially withdrew from the business, he said.
KMT-operated businesses that profited from LPG sales since 1971 included Central Investment Co, Ruei Hua and Kuang Hua, which together founded Shin Shin Natural Gas Co (欣欣天然氣) and 11 other LPG companies, Yang added.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS