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2012 ELECTIONS: Tsai
accuses Ma of using smear tactics
MUDSLINGING: Tsai Ing-wen said that her role in
Yu Chang Biologics has been well scrutinized in the past three years and that no
improper practices have been found
By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter, in Greater Tainan
Democratic Progressive Party
presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen accuses President Ma Ying-jeou and the
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of resorting to smear tactics to win the
election yesterday.
Photo: Taipei Times
Democratic Progressive Party
legislators Pan Men-an, left, and Tsai Huang-liang, right, accuse Ma of trying
to smear Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen by
bringing up Yu Chang Biologics Co just before the presidential elections during
a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday accused President Ma Ying-jeou
(馬英九) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of resorting to “character
assassination” to win next month’s presidential election by accusing her of
profiteering from an investment deal when she served in the government.
At an impromptu press conference in Greater Tainan, Tsai said she and her family
had never received improper benefits from Yu Chang Biologics Co (宇昌生技股份有限公司), a
biotech start-up, and her integrity has always been unquestionable.
“I want to ask President Ma: Is it necessary for this kind of campaign? Is it
necessary to do whatever it takes, including throwing mud at other candidates
and resorting to character assassination to win the election and cover up the
failures of your administration?” Tsai said.
KMT lawmakers on Thursday accused Tsai of a conflict of interest because of her
involvement with Yu Chang after she left office in August 2007, which received
investment from the state-owned National Development Fund (NDF).
The KMT said Tsai, who later served as chairperson of Yu Chang, received NT$100
million (US$3.3 million) when she sold her shares in the company in 2009.
Tsai yesterday said the case had been thoroughly scrutinized in the past three
years and no inappropriate practices have been found, adding that while she
promoted the biotech industry when she was vice premier, she was never involved
with Yu Chang.
Tsai said she agreed to be chairperson of Yu Chang after being invited by
several scientists, who persuaded her that her expertise in negotiation and
fundraising would help the company.
Her family businesses invested in Yu Chang because of a lack of funding in the
initial stage, Tsai said, adding that she had promised to withdraw the
investment once sufficient private funding was in place, which she did.
“Neither myself nor my family received extortionate profits from the investment.
Instead, the government received a profit of NT$1 billion,” she said.
The administrative branch, certain legislators and some media outlets have
collaborated in a smear campaign that only disclosed selective information and
made false accusations, she said.
Former Council for Economic Planning and Development chairperson Ho Mei-yueh
(何美玥) offered her side of story in a separate press conference in Taipei.
Ho said the KMT had -misinterpreted some details. This included a document
showing the NDF’s investment in Yu Chang that was classified as top secret, Ho
said. This was done because it involved information surrounding the company’s
negotiation with the US pharmaceutical company Genentech, which was seeking a
foreign partner at the time, not because of secret maneuvers by Tsai, she said.
“The document can be declassified anytime after the collaboration agreement has
been signed,” she added.
The NFD had invested in several companies that held national strategic
significance, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Vanguard International
Semiconductor, Chunghwa Telecom and Changhua Bank, through “special investment
projects,” DPP lawyer Hsu Kuo-yong (徐國勇) said.
This showed that the NDF’s investment in Yu Chang was not a special case, Hsu
said, adding that the government increased its investment in Yu Chang last year
by NT$137 million.
“If [Yu Chang] was a bad investment, the Ma administration would not have
increased its investment,” Hsu said.
DPP spokesperson Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) added that the DPP did not think Tsai
had violated the “revolving-door” regulation when assuming the chair of Yu Chang
after leaving office, according to the interpretation of the Executive Yuan’s
Legal Affairs Committee.
If the KMT’s accusation is proved legitimate, Chuang said, there would be more
than a few former government officials who were in violation of the regulation.
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
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