Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator and vice presidential candidate Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈) is working with the Central Election Commission (CEC) to resolve issues with her financial disclosure statement, a spokesman for the candidate said yesterday, after the commission published the statements of all three presidential candidates and their running mates, while confirming their eligibility to run in the Jan. 13 election.
Wu’s office spokesman, Chen Yu-cheng (陳宥丞), said the candidate encountered unforeseen difficulties disclosing her husband’s finances due to being suddenly thrust into the campaign.
She is also the first vice presidential nominee to have a foreign spouse, complicating the reporting of her family’s properties, Chen said, adding that Wu’s attorneys are working closely with the CEC to resolve the situation.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
“We emphasize that the offices of Wu and [TPP Chairman and presidential candidate] Ko [Wen-je (柯文哲)] will handle the matter according to law,” he said.
The CEC said that as its mandate is to facilitate the elections, questions about the legal consequences of failing to follow electoral rules should be directed to the Ministry of Justice.
The commission’s examination of financial disclosures are by law formal rather than substantive, it said, adding that candidates can rectify errors in their disclosure, but corrections must be submitted separately, leaving the original declaration in place.
According to the financial declarations released by the CEC on Tuesday, Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate, has a plot of land and a property in Tainan, a Toyota car, a bank account with NT$2.15 million (US$68,243) in it and 13 life insurance savings policies, as well as a NT$13.86 million housing loan.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, reported two plots of land and three properties in Taipei and Chiayi County, savings of NT$39.58 million, NT$4.03 million in bonds and three life insurance savings policies.
Ko owns nine plots of land and six properties in Taipei, Hsinchu City and Penghu County, bank deposits totaling NT$24.6 million, NT$950,000 in fund benefit certificates and seven life insurance savings policies.
DPP vice presidential candidate Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) reported one plot of land and seven properties in New Taipei City, a Toyota and Kuozui vehicles, NT$15 million in bank accounts, benefit certificates worth NT$2.7 million, five life insurance policies and a NT$1.69 million housing loan.
Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), Hou’s running mate, owns three plots of land and 12 properties in Taipei and New Taipei City, NT$79 million in bank deposits, stocks valued at NT$33.4 million and a housing loan of NT$47 million.
Wu reported one plot of land in New Taipei City and a property in the UK, a Mini Cooper car, NT$2.5 million in bank deposits, NT$36.71 million in securities, a set of sapphire jewelry worth NT$8 million and two life insurance policies, along with NT$9.9 million in debt.
All candidates comply with national regulations, including citizenship requirements, to run in the election, with none of them holding foreign nationality, the commission said.
In addition, none of the candidates has lost or reapplied for restoration of their Republic of China citizenship, it said, adding that it would announce the official roster on Dec. 15.
Candidates for public office are not allowed to hold dual nationality, and those who have had their citizenship restored after giving it up cannot hold office.
Wu previously faced allegations that she had not relinquished her US citizenship, while some questioned whether Hsiao, who was born in Japan and lived in the US, had always been a citizen.
Additional reporting by Huang Ching-hsuan and Lin Shin-han
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS