TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Economics Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said Monday that Taiwan Sugar Corp. may ask a court to detain former DPP Chair Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) if he fails to attend repayment negotiations scheduled for August.
Kung said that during negotiations in July, Taiwan Sugar clearly told Wu’s lawyer that the company wanted Wu to repay the damages as soon as possible, per Tai Sounds. Taiwan Sugar Vice President Tsai Dong-lin (蔡東霖) said Wu has repaid NT$7.5 million (US$232,633) of the roughly NT$170 million he owes, adding that the government would exert sufficient pressure to compel Wu to repay the remaining debt.
Asked why negotiations with Wu broke down in July, Taiwan Sugar Vice President Hsiao Chi-yuan (蕭基淵) said Wu’s proposed repayment plan was unacceptable but declined to provide details. KMT Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) suggested that Wu may have proposed repaying NT$50,000 per month, per Liberty Times.
Hsiao said that figure was inaccurate but did not provide further details about Wu’s proposal. Asked about Taiwan Sugar’s next step, he said the company would seek another detention order if Wu failed to provide a reasonable path toward repayment, per UDN.
Taiwan Sugar also explained why it agreed to Wu’s release after his previous detention, per Storm Media. Responding to a question from TPP Legislator Hung Yu-hsiang (洪毓祥) about who made the decision, Tsai said the company’s lawyer made the request after receiving an inquiry from the judge.
Taiwan Sugar said the detention was intended to compel Wu to repay his damages, but keeping him in detention would not help the company recover its losses if he continued to refuse to participate in negotiations.
