Tue, Jan 07, 2025 page3

• KMT lawmakers question Kuma Academy fundraising

  • By Lin Hsin-han, Huang Ching-hsuan and Esme Yeh / Staff reporters, with staff writer
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  Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers yesterday accused the Kuma Academy of illegal fundraising, saying it engaged in politics during its public welfare activities.

  The academy, a nonprofit civil defense organization, last year launched a fundraising campaign named “the Project of Promoting Civil Defense Education in Taiwan” via the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s public welfare fundraising platform.

  At a news conference yesterday, KMT Legislator Jonathan Lin (林沛祥) cited publicly available data as saying that the project last year covered almost all of the academy’s own agenda and events, with up to NT$1.5 million (US$45,645) allocated as what he called propaganda budget.

  

  Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wang Hung-wei, center, speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times

  Another NT$3 million was appropriated to a civil defense-themed sports event named “Stand up as Taiwan,” which was the only walking event held by the academy last year, he said.

  However, the event was part of a political campaign, he said, adding that the Executive Yuan’s Central Taiwan Joint Services Center Deputy Director Wu Yin-ning (吳音寧) joined the walk, and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) flag was pictured in a lot of event photos.

  The project has collected more than NT$15 million in funds, KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) said.

  The ministry’s platform aims to effectively manage fundraising activities and leverage social resources to promote public welfare, especially for disadvantaged groups, she said.

  Those who already have fundraising capabilities such as the academy should not compete with the disadvantaged for the resources on the platform, Wang said, adding that the academy had secured funds on its own fundraising Web site before.

  It not only illegally raised funds, but also crowded out other fundraisers, such as for elderly people living alone, people with rare diseases or physical disabilities, and many other child welfare groups, she said.

  The ministry should promptly investigate the academy, as its public welfare project was an act of “exploitation” for the benefit of the DPP, she added.

  The academy’s activities contravened Article 3 of Charity Donations Destined For Social Welfare Funds Implementation Regulations (公益勸募條例), which forbids groups or individuals who engage in politics from participating in public welfare fundraising, KMT Legislator Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said.

  The budget of NT$410 million appropriated by the Ministry of the Interior for its Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Training Program had a budget item called “parent-child civil defense fair,” projected to cost NT$9 million, he said.

  However, civil defense fairs are held almost exclusively by the academy, and it has raised NT$2 million for such an event, Lo said.

  “Given such fundraising capabilities, why would the government subsidize the academy’s project?” he asked.

  Kuma Academy chief executive officer Chu Fu-ming (朱福銘) said the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party have been smearing the organization’s reputation since China’s Taiwan Affairs Office listed it as “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists.”

  Academy chairwoman Liu Wen (劉文) said the academy applied for a fundraiser as required by the law, with a plan submitted in 2023.

  The project items are in line with the academy’s core business of education, including lectures on civil defense for schools and non-profit organizations, civil defense fairs for children and social media content about civil defense knowledge, she said.

  Asked whether the academy crowded out disadvantaged groups, Liu said the platform allows people to see all legally approved public welfare fundraising projects and is not a donation channel.
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