If the KMT’s accusation and the Taipei Times article turn out to be accurate, it looks as if Tsai may be in trouble.
According to my understanding of the Taipei Times article:
In February of 2007 the National Development Fund informed then-Vice Premier Tsai and others that it might invest NT$20 million in a Taiwanese biotech company that had plans to work with Genentech, a U.S. company. In August of that same year, Tsai asked the Fund to send NT$40 million to the company in question, Yu Chang Biologics Co (宇昌生技股份有限公司). In September of that year, Tsai was registered as Yu Chang’s chairperson.
[quote=“Charlie Jack”]If the KMT’s accusation and the Taipei Times article turn out to be accurate, it looks as if Tsai may be in trouble.
According to my understanding of the Taipei Times article:
In February of 2007 the National Development Fund informed then-Vice Premier Tsai and others that it might invest NT$20 million in a Taiwanese biotech company that had plans to work with Genentech, a U.S. company. In August of that same year, Tsai asked the Fund to send NT$40 million to the company in question, Yu Chang Biologics Co (宇昌生技股份有限公司). In September of that year, Tsai was registered as Yu Chang’s chairperson.
Again, according to the article:
Seems like she has what it takes to fill the shoes of Taiwan’s last DPP president…
All happening around 2007 when the legislative passed the Biotech Act. It was heavily promoted by the KMT, including Speaker Wang Jin Ping, and was all about getting the government more involved in the biotech industry.
[quote]Chief among its key provisions is the freeing of publicly funded researchers to participate directly in the development of the industry.
Subject to the restrictions of the Civil Servant Service Act, publicly funded researchers have long been barred from actively assisting private-sector industry or acting in a consultative capacity on behalf of private-sector companies in transferring technologies they have researched for development into products for the market.
These restrictions have had a particularly large impact on Taiwan’s biotech industry. Fully one-third of Taiwan’s biomedical patents derive from Academia Sinica research. With passage of the new act, regulations governing research personnel have been loosened and the resultant wealth of R&D expected to be transferred to the private sector will open up an even greater source of commercial applications. [/quote]
Tsai is not a researcher but it seems doubtful she did anything wrong since the purpose of the act was to allow an easier flow of talent between the government and the biotech industry. And as an experienced civil servant she is highly unlikely to be unaware of what she was doing.
The KMT know most people won’t know much about this but will make (as our Chewie has of course made) the knee-jerk association with the CSB admin since this happened when Chen was still in power. It’s obvious a ruse and they are applying it now hoping it can’t be cleared in time for the election.
Yea, that was a classic. In a country where they have strippers at funerals and weddings they try and make attending a show an issue?
But as I wrote above, this is unlikely to be a real issue since the biotech industry enjoys bipartisan support and is supposed to facilitate closeness between government, former civil servants and industry.
Yea, that was a classic. In a country where they have strippers at funerals and weddings they try and make attending a show an issue?
But as I wrote above, this is unlikely to be a real issue since the biotech industry enjoys bipartisan support and is supposed to facilitate closeness between government, former civil servants and industry.[/quote]
Does that change the fact that she was given a position in a company, which she directed government funding towards, that made her a lot of money? The point of that 3yr law is to prevent these kinds of scenarios, isn’t it. Sounds to me to be another case of DPP corruption.
Yea, that was a classic. In a country where they have strippers at funerals and weddings they try and make attending a show an issue?
But as I wrote above, this is unlikely to be a real issue since the biotech industry enjoys bipartisan support and is supposed to facilitate closeness between government, former civil servants and industry.[/quote]
Does that change the fact that she was given a position in a company, which she directed government funding towards, that made her a lot of money? The point of that 3yr law is to prevent these kinds of scenarios, isn’t it. Sounds to me to be another case of DPP corruption.[/quote]
Sounds like a lot of allegations. And it’s obvious you aren’t really getting the fact that the 3 year law probably didn’t apply here, nor that the KMT dominated legislative passed a massive bill that year to start funneling money into biotech companies.
Did no one in the Economics Committee notice this was happening when it was happening in real time? It wasn’t a secret Tsai had been made chairman. Or was it as it seems there was bi-partisan support for jump starting the biotech industry and everyone was happy to have Tsai aid this one company (which turned out to make the government a nice tidy profit if the reports are true).
Here’s another good reason to think this is bullshit. In 2008 the China Times wrote an article on conflict of interest between Tsai and TaiMed if she were to remain as CEO when she became Chairman of the DPP.
The article is pretty slanted (though with a transparent attempt at neutrality) and it is hard to see how they would have missed the conflict of interest that already existed as soon as Tsai became CEO at TaMed. The papers were looking for any chance to slam the CSB admin and this would have been an easy one.
Everyone knew Tsai had been vice-premier and also that she had help found TaiMed. Why no outcry then? It’s a bit too convenient don’t you think?
[quote] Miss Tsai Ying-wen is a candidate for the Democratic Progressive Party chairmanship. She also heads two companies: TaiMed Biologics Co. and the TaiMed Co. Miss Tsai nurtured these two companies from birth. Their purpose is to organize Taiwan’s biotechnology talent and develop related industries. The companies are of course for-profit enterprises. Miss Tsai is expected to be successful in her May 18 bid for the DPP party chairmanship. Until then, the DPP will still be the ruling party. Even though only two days remain between May 18 and May 20, for the chairperson of the ruling party to be a board chairwoman of profit-making enterprises, even for a short period, could invite public criticism and taint her public image. Even though after May 20 the DPP will be in the opposition, it will still hold one-fourth of all the seats in the Legislative Yuan. The DPP Chairperson’s potential conflicts of interest will surely be the focus of public attention.
[/quote] kmt.org.tw/english/page.aspx … &anum=4592
I think it may hinge on what this means, from the article on the front page of today’s Taipei Times:
[quote]In response to KMT allegation that by serving as a chairperson of TaiMed Biologics prior to being appointed DPP chairperson, Tsai violated the “revolving door” clause, DPP spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said that Tsai did not violate the clause, according to a detailed explanation of the article in question by the Ministry of Civil Service and the Executive Yuan’s Rules and Regulations Commission in 1996 and 2008.[/quote] taipeitimes.com/News/front/archi … 03520288/1
I think you’re right and the KMT know that. They want to use the doubt they are creating about her integrity to leverage accusations that she profited from her roll in the company. Of course if she was not violating any laws then she had every right to profit but it will still look like ill-gotten gains by many.
It doesn’t matter if it’s legal or not, it’s a clear case of corruption. This situation harks back to Halliburton getting contracts in Iraq while Cheney was vice president…People in government who make laws and direct funding should not be allowed to take up positions in companies for sometime. In my opinion three years is not long enough. This is vital for any democracy to function properly, otherwise it’ll end up like the US…
It doesn’t matter if it’s legal or not, it’s a clear case of corruption. This situation harks back to Halliburton getting contracts in Iraq while Cheney was vice president…People in government who make laws and direct funding should not be allowed to take up positions in companies for sometime. In my opinion three years is not long enough. This is vital for any democracy to function properly, otherwise it’ll end up like the US…[/quote]
I understand your larger point, but you are making a case that just isn’t there. Tsai was helping direct funds to biotech startups because the entire government wanted that, especially the KMT dominated legislative.
After retiring, she was then asked to help one of these companies because of her skills and experience. Perhaps she should have waited but the point was the industry needed a jump then, and the founder, a world renowned scientist who discovered the Aids cocktail, wanted her in.
Look at the talent that company had? Do you really think they were getting funding just because Tsai wanted them too? That’s absurd. They were exactly the sort of company the government was hoping to attract and help fund.
I am certain what we will find out in the coming days is that she was given permission to join the company because everyone believed her contribution would outweigh any threat of impropriety with respect to the Work Act.
[quote]Tens of thousands of protesters poured into the streets last night to join a symbolic “siege” of the Presidential Office as part of the anti-President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) movement aimed at ousting him.[/quote]Taipei Times, September 16, 2006
[quote]Yu Chang Biologics Co was registered and established on
Sept. 5, 2007 , with Tsai as its chairperson. . . .[/quote]–Yesterday’s Taipei Times
If they want to beat the Kuomintang, they’re going to have to get smarter.
[quote=“Charlie Jack”][quote]Tens of thousands of protesters poured into the streets last night to join a symbolic “siege” of the Presidential Office as part of the anti-President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) movement aimed at ousting him.[/quote]Taipei Times, September 16, 2006
[quote]Yu Chang Biologics Co was registered and established on
Sept. 5, 2007 , with Tsai as its chairperson. . . .[/quote]–Yesterday’s Taipei Times
If they want to beat the Kuomintang, they’re going to have to get smarter.[/quote]
Let me get this straight. She was involved in the de-regulation of biotech as Vice Premier in 2007 and was then named to the board of TaiMed after she helped change the rules that allowed more private/public sector cooperation?
In other words, she used her position as Vice Premier to deregulate a sector and was rewarded with an appointment to a board position in the same sector and then profited handsomely from that?
To me that not only shows poor judgement, it is also so symbolic of Chen-admin DPP corruption. Let’s face it–the talent pool isn’t that deep in the DPP and they’ll be reverting very quickly back to their dirty practices should they be returned to power. You can put soap and bleach in a sewer, but the jungle shart smells will soon come to the surface.
If she had real political ambitions, why did she profit from a sector she helped de-regulate? She should have kept arms length from it knowing that such shenanigans would be open to scrutiny when she ran? Those heady Chen years. Everyone making a buck thinking none of it would catch up with them. Asshats and idiots!!!
Jesus Christ you are vengeful bastard. Let it go. Get some therapy.[/quote]
Can you lend me some meds as you’re obviously off yours?
Seriously though, she made a mistake taking a position within an industry that she helped de-regulate as a government official. Bad optics now that she is a politician wanting the highest office. And the opposition will exploit it to its full advantage.
I am all but certain that Tsai was never a member of the National Development Fund’s Management Committee, nor of either of its investment review committees. She certainly was not a member in 2007. As Vice Premier, she would not have had authority to make any decision about what companies the NDF invested in. Such decisions would have been made exclusively by the Management Committee, under advice from the investment review committees.
Here are the relevant paragraphs from the NDF’s 2007 Annual Report.
[quote]In 2007, the National Development Fund Management Committee was under the convenership of the chairperson of the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD), with the Minister of Economic Affairs acting as deputy convener. Its membership consisted of 12 heads of related government agencies, scholars and experts, including: the Minister of Finance; the Minister of Transportation and Communications; the Governor of the Central Bank; the Director-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics; the Minister of the Government Information Office; the Chairman of the Council for Cultural Affairs; Minister without Portfolio Wu Tze-cheng; Taiwan Thinktank Chairman Chen Po-chih; Taiwan Institute of Economic Research President David S. Hong; and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) Chairman Morris Chang.
To carefully utilize the government’s limited funds to match the needs of industries, the National Development Fund has also set up an investment review committee and a venture capital investment review committee, in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 of the aforesaid income and expenditure management and use regulations. To strengthen the review of related cases, the committees consist mainly of scholars and experts in the relevant fields and partly of representatives of related government agencies. The committees’ processing of cases is conducted as prescribed by the guidelines for their establishment and in accordance with pertinent legally prescribed procedures.
[quote]According to fund data, on Feb. 15, 2007 then-Council for Economic Planning and Development chairperson and NDF convener Ho Mei-yueh (何美玥) sent documents labeled classified to then-premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and then-vice premier Tsai for approval, stating that under certain conditions, the fund would invest NT$20 million (US$663,000) in a company that would work with US firm Genentech.
The committee managing the fund passed an incidental motion on April 17 that it would retain the Feb. 15 document for future reference, the fund’s data showed.
On Aug. 31 the same year, Tsai sent a letter to the fund asking it to wire NT$40 million to the account of the “Taimao Protein Technology Co Preparatory Office (台懋蛋白胜科技股份有限公司)” before Sept. 3. Another letter was sent on the same day saying the company’s name had been changed to “Yu Chang Biologics Co (宇昌生技股份有限公司),” repeating the request for the fund to wire NT$40 million to the account of Yu Chang Biologics Co Preparatory Office.[/quote]
Would Tsai roll in approving the funding have been simply perfunctory?
The China Post reports the same thing. It still seems awfully dodgy to me. She gets this classified information from Ho at the NDF in February 2007 that mentions a substantial investment will be made in biotech. After stepping down as Vice Premier, she requests the wiring of funds to specific companies, it takes 6 days for approvals [lightening quick for government in Taiwan as officialdom can be slow and layered–e.g. disbursements for international projects always needed two or three bureaucratic chops from different officials, review by others etc.), and then she is named as chairperson a week later? Something smells rotten.
[quote]
It was Ho who in 2007 sent “classified” documents to then-vice premier Tsai and premier Su Tseng-chang on Feb. 15, informing them that the NDF would invest up to US$20 million in a new company able to partner with U.S. biotech giant Genentech.
According to media reports, on Aug. 31, 2007, Tsai sent a letter requesting that the NDF wire NT$40 million into “Taimao Protein Technology Co. (台懋蛋白胜科技)” as the chosen biotech company. The same day, she asked the fund to wire the same amount to “Yu Chang Biologics Co. (宇昌生技)” — the new name of the previous biotech company, the vice premier explained. According to Tsai, it took the fund a mere six days to invest in Yu Chang.
Months after she stepped down as vice premier, on Sept. 5, 2007, Tsai became the chairperson of the registered Yu Chang Biologics Co. [/quote] chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/nati … ejects.htm
She was involved in the de-regulation of biotech as Vice Premier in 2007 and was then named to the board of TaiMed after she helped change the rules that allowed more private/public sector cooperation?
