Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: Ko Wen-je/Facebook
TAIPEI MAYOR KO WEN-JE has come under scrutiny regarding possible violations of the Anti-Corruption Act, in that Ko has been listed as a suspect in an ongoing investigation. This is regarding the Core Pacific City mall, which was demolished in 2019, as well as the Beitou Shilin Technology Park.
Suspicions center around that Ko allowed the Core Pacific City mall to increase its floor area ratio from 392% to 840%. DPP city councilors who have criticized Ko over the possible corruption, such as Chien Shu-pei and Hsu Shu-hua, have pointed to that this allowed the Core Pacific City mall to make an extra 40 billion NT, in that this led to the mall being given more than 1,000 ping in space. Hsu and Chien have criticized this expansion as the largest in Taipei’s history, in that businesses are only usually given an expanded floor area ratio of 130% to 150%.
Similar questions have been raised about the land lease auctions for Beitou Shilin Technology Park plots T17 and T18. Shin Kong Life Insurance acquired the T17 and T18 lots when the T16, T17, and T18 plots were put up for auction, though Shin Kong lacked an investment plan. This has been accused of political favoritism by Ko, seeing as his vice presidential candidate during his 2024 presidential bid was Cynthia Wu, who belongs to the family that owns the Shin Kong Group. Documentation from meetings pertaining to the Beitou Shilin Technology Park may have been falsified.
Ko likewise has been criticized over missing documentation regarding negotiation over costs for the Taipei Free wi-fi network with the contractor that built the network. Ko has also been questioned over provisions for the potential termination of the agreement for the wi-fi network, which was done on a build-operate-transfer basis. The build-operate-transfer agreement for the Nangang Bus Station has also been questioned, seeing as this again involves the Shin Kong Life Insurance Group.
Ko has to date benefited from a political image that is considered free of political corruption. In particular, Ko has framed his TPP as having the party colors of “white”–to symbolize that it is neither the DPP nor the KMT, as a newer third party free of political corruption on entrenched political ties. That being the case, the TPP has often voted with the KMT on issues such as opposition to the Tsai administration’s appointments to the National Communications Commission, or legislation requiring lawmakers to report on meetings with Chinese officials if they travel to China.
The now-demolished Core Pacific City mall. Photo credit: Peellden/WikiCommons/CC BY-SA 3.0
Nevertheless, one notes that a number of TPP politicians have now become caught up in corruption cases. Apart from Ko, Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao previously came under fire over charges of embezzling subsidies meant to assist in hiring legislative assistants, and using this on personal expenses. Kao was also accused of docking pay from her legislative assistants as a form of punishment. The TPP’s image as a whole could perhaps suffer from corruption scandals that Ko becomes caught up in.
Moreover, one notes that the corruption cases could prove an unusual stumbling block as to future collaborati between the TPP and KMT. The KMT has, to some extent, sought to woo the TPP as a junior partner in the legislature, seeing as the TPP and KMT together could block DPP bills. Even so, the TPP has resisted committing to unconditional cooperation with the KMT, knowing that the party will become indistinguishable from the KMT except for being smaller than it if it fails to maintain a separate party identity.
Yet one notes that former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin of the KMT has been highly critical of Ko’s actions, not only regarding the expansion of the floor area ratio for the Core Pacific Mall, but that the mall was demolished less than twenty years after its construction. In all probability, this is due to the fact that Hau was the mayor of Taipei before Ko, and he hopes to differentiate his mayoral administration from Ko’s. Likewise, current Taipei mayor Chiang Wan-an of the KMT oversees current investigations into Ko’s administration. Chiang will also have an incentive to avoid appearing as though he is taking a light hand to Ko.
It is not uncommon for former Taipei mayors to be investigated over infrastructure development projects that took place under their tenure, with other examples including Ma Ying-jeou and Chen Shui-bian. However, it is to be seen whether the ongoing investigation proves politically damaging to Ko going forward.