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Date Posted: 04:41:45 02/04/00 Fri
Author: Anonymous
Subject: OUR LEADERES LOOKED NORTH FOR TRICKS ON POLITICAL PARTY FUNDING

PLEASE READ THIS CNN ARTICLE ABOUT POLITICAL PARTY MONEY RAISING AND CORRUPTION IN TAIWAN. DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR?
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Taiwan's ruling party under close scrutiny as vote nears

The ruling party's wealth has emerged as a key campaign issue in Taiwan

February 1, 2000
Web posted at: 3:25 p.m. HKT (0725 GMT)
From staff and wire reports

TAIPEI, Taiwan (CNN) -- Corruption allegations and voter dissatisfaction are weighing down Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang Nationalist party and could threaten its demise in March's general elections.

"Everyone knows the KMT relies on black money. We all know that their finances come from abnormal channels, from state to party coffers and transfers of interest," Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian told CNN.

The Kuomintang's wealth has emerged as a central issue in the March 18 election. The KMT has reportedly amassed billions of dollars while in office. Some reports place the figure as high as $6.5 billion.

"In this campaign, the issue will be how to separate this illegal wrongdoing between business and government," independent presidential candidate James Soong told CNN

KMT also a business empire

The KMT has been Taiwan's ruling party since the end of China's civil war in 1949. Beijing has referred to Taiwan as a breakaway province and called for its reunification with the mainland under the one-country, two-systems approach to government implemented with Hong Kong.

The KMT's headquarters is not just a political center, but has become a business empire. The KMT has had its hands in business it established a one-party state in Taiwan in 1949.

Despite a decade of democratic reforms, the KMT still has interests in banks, investment companies, petrochemical firms and television and radio stations. It has subsequently become the richest political party in the world and the target of repeated corruption accusations.

"The people are fed up with Taiwan's dirty-money politics. They all believe the Kuomintang's business assets are connected with corruption. They want to get rid of the monster," said Vicky Tien, author of the book Liquidating the KMT.


KMT candidate calls for more reforms

Taiwanese Vice President Lien Chan, the KMT's presidential candidate, acknowledges the voters' feelings. He has called for reform, and pledged the party will stop managing firms in which it owns shares. He has also vowed the KMT's business interests will be placed in a trust.

"It is time we proceed even further with this reformist endeavor ... we have to continue our combat against the underworld and money politics," Lien said.

Li Zhaoxing, Beijing's ambassador to Washington, has said any of Taiwan's five presidential candidates is acceptable except Chen, a charismatic former mayor of Taipei who has in the past openly advocated Taiwan independence.

Chen is running a close second to Soong in opinion polls. Although Lien is running third, some analysts have suggested he could pull off a victory due to the Nationalist's political juggernaut.

Soong, 57, fled with his family to Taiwan after the Nationalists lost the civil war. He has been ousted from the KMT for launching a maverick presidential bid to challenge Lien, the party's standard-bearer.

Soong has also taken an accommodating position on China. He has vowed to end a five-decades-old ban on direct trade, transport and mail links between the two sides if elected.


Chen adopts softer line on China

On Sunday, Chen took a softer line than he has in the past regarding relations with China. He said his party would not declare independence if elected.

Chen, apparently trying to avoid scaring away voters, said that Taiwan was already a sovereign state, and that there was no need to either declare the island independent or change its name.

He also said he did not advocate writing into the constitution the so-called "two-states theory" of President Lee Teng-hui, who had enraged Beijing by saying Taiwan would only deal with mainland China as a sovereign equal.

Chen's words had little impact on Beijing.

"The mainland side will not change its view of Chen Shui- bian's Taiwan independence stand because of his declaration," said Xu Bodong, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "It's impossible for the mainland to trust or feel at ease with the DPP or Chen Shui-bian."

Beijing -- which has threatened to invade Taiwan if the island declares independent statehood -- is also wary of Soong.

"China cannot but be suspicious of him," one Beijing-based Western diplomat told reporters. "The mainland is just not going to trust him."


Proposal for strait 'peace zone'

On Monday, Lien made a fresh proposal to resolve Taipei's political dispute with Beijing, calling for the establishment of a "peace zone" in the Taiwan Strait.

The proposal would allow regional governments, including mainland China, to share collective responsibility for peace across the Taiwan strait, Lien said without elaborating further.

"Beijing will never accept the proposal," said Taiwan University political scientist Lu Ya-li. "More importantly, Beijing will never let foreign countries intervene in cross-strait disputes."

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