Court rules against James Soong over his tax evasion - TW/USA

[dArKeR]

The Supreme Administrative Court ruled that People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (???) must pay NT$2.82 million (US$90,000) in back taxes and fines after depositing a total of US$480,000 in his son's bank account in the US.

The Supreme Administrative Court said the US$480,000 was unused funds from Soong's campaigns in 1995 and 1997 for Taiwan provincial governor, and that the money counted as his personal property.

"Because Soong put his personal property into his son's accounts in the US, it should be treated as a gift, and therefore Soong needs to pay gift taxes and a fine to the nation," the court ruling said.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2005/05/15/2003254719

I am Soong I am Feces
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2005/05/15/2003254719

[dArKeR]

1. Responding to a double sell-out

People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong's (???) visit to China was a carbon copy of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (??) earlier trip. Both behaved as Beijing's script dictated.
Their behavior was no different in substance -- they both identified with the concepts of "one China" and "one Chinese people."

Neither dared to bring up the name "Republic of China," let alone stress that the Republic of China is a sovereign country.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2005/05/15/2003254782

[dArKeR]

2. The politics of irony overwhelm blue camp

The irony, not to mention cynical politics, that surrounds the visits to China by Taiwan's two opposition leaders is inescapable.

The irony first. One after the other, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (??) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (???) paraded through China like provincial governors of old, visiting historic sites and ancestral homes before arriving in Beijing where they performed symbolic kowtows before the Dragon Throne, this time bearing the trappings of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The Chinese, who are masters of political and diplomatic charm, having taken in sophisticates such as former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger and former US president Bill Clinton, went all out to seduce Lien and Soong. They were feted and applauded at every turn, Lien telling reporters that "we have been warmly received by the central committee of the Communist Party."

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2005/05/15/2003254781