Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Money-laundering bill has no teeth

Carol Lin 林志潔

Earlier this year, Mega International Commercial Bank’s New York branch was punished with a fine of US$180 million by the US Department of Financial Services for breaching the US Bank Secrecy Act and money-laundering laws. The news shocked the nation.

Taiwan’s Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法) lags far behind international standards: It does not punish unsuccessful attempts at money laundering, touch on criminal liability of legal entities, its regulations on financial inspection and law enforcement are incomplete, penalties for violations are mild and reporting obligations are low. In addition, confiscation powers are inadequate, making it impossible to completely seize illegal profits.

Trump is right, if for wrong reason

William R. Stimson

The US is all abuzz about US president-elect Donald Trump’s 10-minute phone call with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).

Surprise of surprises! Trump did one thing right, even if perhaps for the wrong reason. Yet, how unforgivingly the US media and its pundit journalists have lashed out at him for it. The US is shaking in its boots for fear the phone call will offend China.

Groundbreaking Call: Tsai, Trump talk of defense, economics

Taipei Times

President Tsai Ing-wen, center, is flanked by National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu, left, and Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee as she speaks to US president-elect Donald Trump over the telephone in the Presidential Office in Taipei on Friday evening.
Photo provided by the Presidential Office

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and US president-elect Donald Trump spoke over the telephone on issues relating to improving the economy and strengthening national defense, the Presidential Office said yesterday.

KMT confirms ex-Chinese official for post

Taipei Times

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Thursday confirmed that it is to hire a consultant who was a Chinese official tasked with pursuing the nation’s unification with China.

KMT Central Policy Committee director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) said that former deputy general secretary of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) Wang Xiaobing (王小兵) will be hired as a consultant for the party’s Sun Yat-sen Memorial Library Foundation.

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