Taiwan opposition party KMT faces probe into its alleged ‘ill-gotten’ finances
Party blocked legislation while it was in power aimed at shedding light on its huge assets, but lost elections to President Tsai Ing-wen’s DPP in January
Taiwan is to launch an official investigation into the ill-gotten assets of political parties in a move blasted by the opposition Kuomintang as persecution.
The move comes after Beijing-sceptic president Tsai Ing-wen formally took office in May.
The new investigation is likely to deepen divisions between Taiwan’s main parties.
Tsai repeatedly challenged the legitimacy of the KMT’s assets in her presidential campaign and accused it of trying to dispose of them before presidential and parliamentary elections in January.
Although the bill passed by parliament late on Monday authorises the investigation and seizure of ill-gotten assets from all parties, it is only the KMT which has faced questions about its finances.
Considered one of the richest parties in the world, it registered total assets of NT$18.96 billion (HK$4.6 billion) by the end of last year, compared with NT$478.72 million by Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party.