The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has refused to pay Cabinet-ordered compensation of NT$864.88 million (US$28.43 million) for selling properties appropriated from the Japanese colonial government, with the party saying that the properties were legally acquired and that it would appeal the order.
The Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee on June 15 ordered the KMT to pay for 458 properties appropriated from the former Japanese government, which were later sold or expropriated.
The payment was due yesterday and failure to meet the deadline could result in the freezing of assets and detention of the KMT chairperson, who acts as the party’s legal representative.
Photo: CNA
The KMT yesterday said it would launch an administrative suit against the committee’s “illegal order.”
The former Japanese properties were transferred to the KMT to compensate the party for its wartime expenses during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the party said.
The transfer was approved by a high-level decisionmaking body joined by top government and military officials and KMT dignitaries during the post-war period, and therefore the transferred properties were not ill-gotten, it said.
The KMT rejected the committee’s claim that the property transfer was made in violation of the principles of democracy and rule of law and beyond the authority of a political party, saying the transfer was completely legal.
The Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例) stipulates that a compensation order can only be given in cases where an ill-gotten property has been transferred to a third party and cannot be recovered.
The committee gave the order without first investigating the status of the properties in question, the KMT said.
Meanwhile, the committee said it would ask the Administrative Enforcement Agency to enforce the payment.
“The KMT has little cash at hand and its legal income cannot be the target of enforcement actions, so it should be the party’s real estate that is subjected to enforcement,” committee spokeswoman Shih Chin-fang (施錦芳) said.
The agency would follow due process and enforcement would not be affected unless the KMT requests a stay of execution to halt the committee’s order, but the party did not take any such action, Shih said.
Former Japanese properties should be national properties and historical data have shown how the KMT appropriated such properties, she added.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
RSS