英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

staff writer

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party yesterday accused Council for Economic Planning and Development Minister Christina Liu of breach of trust in the Yu Chang case.

Liu apologized but refused to resign to take responsibility for the release of a wrongly-dated document claiming to prove DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen was guilty of conflict of interest when approving a government investment in Yu Chang Biologics Co. in 2007.

Tsai said she only knew she would take over as Yu Chang Chairwoman months after leaving her position as vice premier. The DPP has accused the ruling Kuomintang of spreading lies and rumors to prevent Tsai from winning the January 14 presidential election.

Liu’s release of documents about the investment plan for a related biotechnology venture capital firm amounted to breach of trust and leaking of secrets, inflicting great damage on shareholders, DPP spokesmen said at a news conference Thursday.

Party spokesman Chen Chi-mai said Liu owed the public an explanation about inconsistencies in the documents, such as the removing of a text segment. Chen’s colleague Chuang Juei-hsiung said Liu should explain why the date on the document was changed from August 31 to March 19, which gave the impression that Tsai was heavily involved before she resigned as vice premier in May.

Chuang also asked who had changed the date and when. He suggested there was a group of conspirators behind Liu which was plotting the accusations against Tsai. Premier Wu Den-yih and Liu both claimed that the timing was only a detail, but it was the difference between a violation of conflict-of-interest laws and innocence, the DPP said.

The opposition also accused the government of abusing the judiciary to mount a campaign of insinuation against Tsai. The Supreme Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Division took documents about the Yu Chang case away from the National Development Fund offices, reports said. The DPP voice doubts about the impartiality of the investigators.

In a separate development in the case, Premier Wu’s wife, Tsai Ling-yi, apologized for having used a campaign rally to accuse Tsai of embezzling millions in government funds. The apology followed a visit by the DPP to the prosecutors’ office Tuesday to sue the premier’s wife, Liu and three KMT lawmakers for trying to prevent the DPP candidate from winning the election.