The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is determined to zero out its assets, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday, as he accused the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration of exploiting the issue to persecute the party.
The party has always believed in having a healthy democratic system and fair competition among political parties, Chiang told a KMT Central Standing Committee meeting in Taipei.
Those features are the cornerstones of the nation’s constitutional system, as well as values shared by Taiwanese society, he added.
Photo: CNA
Accusing the DPP administration of abandoning neutrality after securing the presidency and a majority in the legislature, Chiang said the DPP has taken advantage of its access to administrative resources to exploit issues and intervene in elections.
With the passage of the Act Governing the Settlement 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) and the establishment of the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee, the DPP “replaced judicial power with administrative investigative power” to target other political parties, he said.
At the KMT’s 19th National Congress on Sept. 4, 2016, the party resolved to donate to charity any remaining assets after subtracting its debts, with the exception of party offices and the funds needed to pay retired and current employees, he said, adding that the resolution shows that there is a consensus within the party to zero out its assets and donate them to charity.
He accused the committee of using administrative means to thwart the KMT’s wishes to completely dispose of its assets as soon as possible.
The committee’s actions have greatly affected the rights of the KMT’s retired workers, Chiang said, adding that he believed it is the committee’s “political intention” to continue exploiting the topic of the KMT’s assets.
The assets that the KMT has accumulated over the years have their historical origins, but the party is not afraid to examine the legality of those sources, he said.
Chiang called for the resumption of negotiations between the party and the committee, saying the committee and the DPP administration need to resolve the issue together.
Ministry of the Interior data showed that as of July 2018, the KMT had NT$18.9 billion (US$636.75 million at the current exchange rate) in assets, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) reported.
The KMT on Dec. 6 last year said that it was struggling to pay its staff after the committee froze its assets.
The committee at the time said that the claim was untrue, and that the KMT had declared about NT$420 million in income in 2018.
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS