Ma Reiterated the Seven Questions for Hsieh, Adding an Eighth Question on Hsieh’s Integrity

Press Release
Ma Reiterated the Seven Questions for Hsieh, Adding an Eighth Question on Hsieh’s Integrity
Ma Ying-jeou Campaign Headquarters
January 31, 2008

After raising seven questions for DPP Presidential candidate Frank Hsieh, including three questions on policies and four questions on personal integrity, the Ma-Siew Campaign Headquarters presented an eighth question for Hsieh on Wednesday, asking the DPP Presidential candidate to tell the people his relationship with the Kaohsiung Development Association.

The eighth question, according to Ma campaign spokesperson Lo Chih-chiang, calls for Hsieh to explain his relationship with the Kaohsiung Development Association, his relationships with Chang Chih-jung and Hsu Cheng-chao, and why he failed to declare the NT$ 50-million in political contributions he received in 2002 alone (before Hsieh ran for Kaohsiung Mayor). “We challenge Mr. Hsieh to publicize the details of the political contributions he received,” said Lo.

According to Lo, Chang is the founding president of the Kaohsiung Development Association, and was previously the president of the New Culture Foundation and the president of the Friends of Frank Hsieh Club. “Chang was also the Political Affairs Advisor to the Executive Yuan when Hsieh was the Premier. He admitted to taking NT$ 32 million in bribes in the case of the six public bids for the Kaohsiung MRT construction project. Chang became a suspect-turned-witness for the prosecution in July 2007, and was later convicted in the court of first instance,” added Lo.

Lo went on to say, “Hsu was the former president of Kaohsiung Development Association, a former board member of the New Culture Foundation, and the former president of the Friends of Frank Hsieh Club. He was another Political Affairs Advisor to the Executive Yuan when Hsieh was the Premier. He was charged with forgery, corruption, and money-laundering. The Special Investigation Unit filed for permission to detain Chang twice in August and September 2007, respectively.”

“Mr. Hsieh should explain why so many of his close aides and top executives who worked under him when he was Kaohsiung Mayor are involved in corruption scandals. Does he have anything to do with these scandals? Are these people his proxies?” said Lo.

Lo added, “Mr. Hsieh put on the face of Mr. Integrity when he introduced the ‘Three Noes and Two Withouts’ on January 27, and released his clean government policies ‘Three Aspirations’ on the following day, so he must be very confident about his own integrity. Since he has nothing to fear, he should face the people’s scrutiny like a man and answer his opponent’s questions regarding his integrity.”

“With this in mind, the Ma-Siew Campaign Headquarters presented four questions on Mr. Hsieh’s integrity on January 27 and asked him to reply in his ‘clean government’ press conference the following day. The four questions are as follows: Firstly, we ask Mr. Hsieh to respond to his running mate Mr. Su Tseng-chang’s questions regarding his involvement in corruption scandals. Secondly, we challenge Hsieh to guarantee that members of his family have never been involved in under-the-table political deals, including accepting political contributions. Thirdly, we challenge Hsieh to guarantee that all the corruption scandals involving Kaohsiung City’s top executives while Hsieh was Kaohsiung Mayor have nothing to do with him. Fourthly, we would like to ask Hsieh to publicize his securities investment history. Much to our disappointment, Mr. Hsieh has been shunning the questions for three days,” added Lo.

“Perhaps Mr. Hsieh has no confidence in his own integrity and therefore opted to shun the questions. He could ask his spokesperson to respond on his behalf, considering he might be reluctant to do so himself,” said Lo.

In addition, Lo said, “Mr. Ma raised three questions on policies, including the cross-Strait direct charter flights, opening up to Mainland Chinese investment, and the arrangement of charter flights for the many Mainland China-based Taiwan business people who wish to vote in the Presidential election. It had been 126 days, and Hsieh has yet to answer the first two questions; while he had to mull over the third question for 7 days to come up with a response, saying he was against the arrangement. Mr. Ma, on the contrary, responded to the ‘Three Noes and Two Withouts’ and the Green Card matter in a swift, candid, and responsible manner within three or four hours, in four days in a row, after Hsieh raised the subject. Mr. Ma treated Mr. Hsieh’s questions with respect, while Mr. Hsieh has never returned the courtesy, preferring to shun the questions or procrastinate. This is an irresponsible attitude.”

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