GIO defends advert with taxpayers’ money

But the ad did not appear in the China Times, one of the mass-circulation Chinese-language dailies, because it ran a series of in-depth reviews of the performance of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party administration for the past seven years.

The reports have caught widespread attention, including from Ma Ying-jeou, candidate for president representing the opposition Kuomintang.

Ma referred earlier this week to an expose by the China Times charging that the DPP government “has stolen” from the national treasury “to the last penny.” One such instance was the waste of an estimated amount between NT$279 billion and NT$400 billion of taxpayers’ hard-earned money by suspending the construction work on Taiwan’s fourth nuclear power plant in 2000.

Opposition lawmakers blasted the GIO’s waste of people’s money to run the costly ads.

Shieh Jyh-wei, GIO and government spokesman, criticized the China Times for highlighting the dark side.

He said the daily failed to double-check with the GIO or any other government agencies before publishing its stories.

Shieh said it is the GIO’s duty to safeguard the government’s image even though the move would cost money from the taxpayers.

The China Times also cited a fallen DPP political star to explain to its readers how corrupt a government can become.

At a relatively young age of 40, Yen Wan-chin, a former

political activist, became one of the youngest Cabinet officials when he was appointed vice interior minister in 2005 after serving as China Affairs Department chief at the DPP, and vice secretary-general at the government-funded Straits Exchange Foundation dealing with China.

Coming from a poor family that made a living selling ice, Yen had an annual income of around NT$3 million as a Cabinet official.

But his expenditures via credit cards alone ran up to close to NT$10 million a year. The money was spent mostly on luxury items and pricey stores, according to the reports.

Yen was eventually given a 15-year jail term last month after a district court convicted found him guilty of taking bribes from businesspeople and embezzling funds from the ruling DPP. The China Times also printed a long list of the corruption cases in recent years.

The most recent two years saw the implications of a deputy presidential secretary-general, a transportation and communications minister, a vice economics minister, the chairman of the top financial watchdog Financial Supervisory Commission plus a board member and the agency’s top prosecutor, a vice chairman of the National Science Council and another senior official, a curator and two senior aides at the National Palace Museum, and chairman of the state-run Taiwan Water Corp.

Yen’s conviction is just the latest in a series of scandals hitting President Chen Shui-bian and the DPP administration. Chen’s own son-in-law Chao Chien-ming and Chao’s father were convicted on insider trading charges while first lady Wu Shu-chen and three former Chen’s aides have been charged with embezzling NT$14.8 million from the president’s special account.

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