The Control Yuan’s latest anti-corruption report reveals that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠) — one of the so-called “four major bandits” of the cross-strait service trade pact named yesterday by student protesters — is in possession of great wealth.
Chang is now infamous for triggering the Sunflower movement by speeding the cross-strait service trade pact through the joint screening committee meeting in 30 seconds on March 17, sending it straight to the legislative floor.
According to the report released by the Control Yuan on Thursday last week, Chang has 143 properties to his name scattered around the nation, with most of them concentrated in New Taipei City’s Tucheng (土城), Jhonghe (中和) and Yonghe (永和) districts, as well as Taipei’s Zhongshan (中山) and Xinyi (信義) districts, Taoyuan County’s Jhongli (中壢) and in Hsinchu City.
He has six entire buildings registered to his name in Tucheng, Yonghe and Jhonghe districts.
The report shows that Chang also holds NT$388 million (US$12.6 million) in stock and bonds, NT$20.8 million in savings and NT$9.1 million in jewelry, antiques and two golf club passes; one in Taoyuan and one in China’s Fuzhou.
Chang also holds NT$790 million in obligations and NT$19.5 million in investments, the report showed, adding that in 2012 and last year, Chang had either sold or purchased more than 80 plots of land.
Meanwhile, the report shows that KMT Legislator Cheng Ru-fen (鄭汝芬) has more than 60 properties and 21 buildings to her name, with more than NT$150 million in savings, NT$16 million in stock and bonds and more than NT$1.2 billion in obligations.
KMT Legislator Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉) has 74 plots of land and 12 buildings to his name, NT$38.2 million in savings, NT$2.9 million in stocks and NT$1.6 billion in obligations, the report showed, adding that Su has also invested NT$8.7 billion in funds and other legal entities.
The report also included the asset value of Taipei mayoral candidate hopefuls, including KMT Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) and Pasuya Yao (姚文智).
Ting has realty in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), NT$5.8 millions in savings, NT$20 million in stocks, and NT$2.6 million in watches and jewelry, the report showed.
Hsu has property in both Greater Tainan and the US, NT$13 million in savings and NT$3.9 million in gold, the report found, adding that Yao holds property in Taipei’s Wenshan District (文山), NT$3.9 million in savings, NT$2 million in obligations, more than NT$8 million in house loans and about NT$2.5 million in investment businesses.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,