Ma Has Three Questions in Response to Hsieh’s “Three Noes and Two Withouts”

KMT Press Release

Ma Has Three Questions in Response to Hsieh’s “Three Noes and Two Withouts”

Ma Ying-jeou Campaign Headquarters

January 29, 2008

In his latest wave of attack directed at KMT Presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou, DPP Presidential candidate Frank Hsieh introduced the “Three Noes and Two Withouts,” which he said were meant for Ma. In response, Ma campaign spokesperson Wang Yu-chi said he would have no objection at all if Hsieh’s remarks were directed at the first family, “But Hsieh would be totally wrong if his remarks were made against Mr. Ma, whose integrity has been proven. The insinuations made by Mr. Hsieh about Mr. Ma were completely unfounded.” Wang said he would like to present three questions to Hsieh:

“Firstly, I challenge Hsieh to guarantee that members of his family have never been, and will never be, involved in under-the-table political deals.”

“Secondly, I challenge Hsieh to guarantee that all the corruption scandals and indictment with request for criminal penalty involving Kaohsiung City’s top executives while Hsieh was Kaohsiung Mayor have nothing to do with him.”

“Thirdly, in a newspaper advertisement dated May 6, 2007, Su Tseng-chang, now Hsieh’s running mate, asked Hsieh to explain why a prosecutor of Kaohsiung City revealed in official correspondence that he possessed ‘strong evidence suggesting Hsieh’s involvement in corruption.’ Adding insult to injury, Su urged Hsieh to come clean in the advertisement, adding that ‘changing the subject is no way to hide.’ I would like to know just why Hsieh hasn’t responded to Su’s challenge. Exactly what is he afraid of?”

Wang added that “the Three Noes introduced by Hsieh are, in fact, empty issues.” “The best thing for Mr. Hsieh to do now is to make a public pledge and tell the people that his family members have never, and will never be, involved in under-the-table political deals, including accepting political contributions. Empty promises on aboveboard issues or possible future scenarios, while shunning under-the-table and past political deals, are of no use,” said Wang.

Meanwhile, Wang asked Hsieh to explain exactly why the top executives who worked under him during his tenure as Kaohsiung Mayor, including Deputy Mayor Hou Ho-shong, Civil Affairs Bureau director Wang Wen-cheng, Bureau of Urban Development director Wu Meng-the, Fire Bureau director Chen Kun-chang, Finance Bureau director Kenneth Lin, and Labor Affairs Bureau director Fang Lai-chin were all indicted or convicted on corruption charges. In addition, Chang Chi-jung, head of Friends of Frank Hsieh Club and also former Chairman of the New Culture Foundation and Cabinet Political Affairs Advisor, were also convicted for corruption. Wang said Hsieh should explain whether these people played the role of his proxy.” “As a matter of fact, Hsieh himself is being investigated by prosecutors for his role in a political contribution scandal,” said Wang.

According to Wang, Hsieh is missing the point. “What the people really want to know is whether his wife and his top aides have been, or will be, involved in under-the-table political deals, including accepting political contributions,” said Wang.

Wang stressed that Mrs. Ma would never hesitate to assure the people that “she has never, and will never, be involved in under-the-table political deals.” “Would Mr. and Mrs. Hsieh make such a pledge?” asked Wang.

Meanwhile, Wang made the following response to Hsieh’s Three Noes:

On the subject of securities investment, Wang said “securities investment is a form of normal economic activities, not a crime or a sin.” “This is why Mr. Ma did not pledge that he would never invest in securities. In fact, Mr. and Mrs. Ma have in their accounts only a small share of securities issued by China Steel, Taipei Bank, and Mega International Commercial Bank. Mr. Ma acquired the China Steel stocks more than ten years ago in accordance with the government’s privatization policy, and has not acquired additional shares or sold his shares. His shares in Taipei Bank (now known as Taipei Fubon Bank) were acquired about seven years ago when Ma was Taipei Mayor, and were acquired in accordance with the government policy of privatization for Taipei Bank. Mr. Ma has not sold his shares in Taipei Bank or acquired additional shares either. Mrs. Ma acquired her shares of Mega International Commercial Bank securities because she was required to do so as the bank’s employee, and she has not increased or decreased her shares since then. Mr. and Mrs. Ma currently have in their accounts 4,843 shares of China Steel securities, with face value of NT$ 48,430, 10,224 shares of Taipei Fubon Bank securities, with face value of NT$ 102,240, and 53,680 shares of Mega Financial Holdings, with face value of NT$ 536,800. All the details have been included in Mr. Ma’s asset declarations in the past ten years,” said Wang.

Wang went on to say, “In other words, Mr. and Mrs. Ma have never been actively involved in securities trading. This is not going to change even if Ma is elected President. Now perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Hsieh would care to share with us their securities investment history since Mr. Hsieh held public office? It would be interesting to see how many times they have traded in the stock market, the stocks Mr. and Mrs. Hsieh favored, and the duration of their each and every investment.”

Hsieh criticized Mrs. Ma for being concurrently a board member of Dwen An Social Welfare Foundation and a board member of Mega International Investment Trust Co., Ltd. Wang said that Mrs. Ma assumed the former role to organize charity events for young people, and was assigned by Mega International Commercial Bank to the latter role because she is the head of the Bank’s Legal Affairs Department. “Both positions are of the nature of volunteer service. Mrs. Ma has made numerous monetary contributions to the foundation in the past. These are all public information. Mr. Hsieh is very strange in making a big deal out of this,” added Wang.

In response to Hsieh’s remarks about “not having business relationships with public agencies,” Wang assured Hsieh of Ma’s integrity, “Mr. Ma has never been, and will never be, involved in this kind of problem. Mr. Hsieh is very kind in assuring the people that he will not have such problems. The question is whether he or his wife was once involved in this kind of business relationships in the past.”

About Hsieh’s “Two Noes,” Wang said that Mr. and Mrs. Ma had a daughter when studying at the U.S. “Their daughter obtained U.S. citizenship at birth in accordance with the US nationality laws, which follow the principle of jus soli, and therefore has dual citizenship. Mr. Ma’s daughter has come of age, and should decide herself whether to give up her U.S. citizenship. The decision is not her parents’. It is really below the belt for Mr. Hsieh to involve the opponent’s daughter in this. Is this the ‘reconciliation and symbiosis’ Mr. Hsieh has in mind? He should be talking more about public policies, and answer Mr. Ma’s questions regarding the cross-Strait charter flights for Taiwanese businessmen ahead of the upcoming Chinese New Year holidays. Hsieh put on the mask of Mr. Humble only after the DPP’s crushing defeat in the legislative elections, talking about reflecting on past mistakes and conducting a high-class Presidential election campaign all the time. Now he is resorting to negative campaign strategies and firing insults at Mr. Ma’s family. It strikes me as unbelievable that Hsieh has forgotten about reconciliation and symbiosis completely, considering the DPP’s humiliating defeat was just a week ago. Actually, this is typical Frank Hsieh, talking about one thing in public and doing exactly the opposite in private,” added Wang.

Wang said Ma has given a clear response to Hsieh’s “Three Noes and Two Withouts.” “I would like to ask Mr. Hsieh not to evade the aforementioned questions and return Mr. Ma’s courtesy by replying to them clearly in his press conference tomorrow, which he said would be on the subject of ‘clean government,’” said Wang.

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