Records show Tsai signed TaiMed investment documents

  Central News Agency 2011-12-12 Taipei, Dec. 12 (CNA) Opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen signed papers in her capacity as vice premier in 2007 endorsing government investment in a new biotech firm for a joint venture on AIDS drugs development, according to declassified files revealed Monday. The files show that Tsai signed two documents on a deal with the American biotech firm Genentech for the development of a new AIDS drug known as Anti-CD4, and its third-stage clinical trial, when she served as vice premier of the DPP administration in 2007. According to the documents, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, was seeking a partner in Taiwan for the joint venture and the government-run National Development Fund (NDF) would invest up to US$20 million if Genentech agreed that a new joint-venture company and most of its research and manufacturing operations would be based in Taiwan. The declassified documents were referred to the Legislative Yuan by Council of Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) Minister Christina Liu. According to Liu, Tsai signed both documents submitted to the Executive Yuan by Ho Mei-yueh, chairwoman of the CEPD under the then- DPP administration, in February and March 2007, respectively. Then-Premier Su Tseng-chang also signed the first document, dated Feb. 9, 2007, on the joint venture plan, according to Liu. Only Tsai and Ho signed the second document, dated March 21, 2007, which also carried a clause that the new joint venture would be named the TaiMed Group. The NDF investment was approved by the Cabinet one week after the first document was submitted. The TaiMed Group later changed its title to TaiMed Biologic. Co. The classified documents were forced to be declassified after ruling Kuomintang legislators recently raised suspicions about possible conflicts of interest in the joint venture, given the fact that Tsai became the company's chairwoman in September 2007, four months after she stepped down as vice premier. They also suspect there was non-compliance with due process in the transfer of funds from the NDF to the company, and questioned the role of Tsai's family in the joint venture. Commenting on the fast approval of the NDF investment, Liu said all NDF investment plans are subject to detailed and lengthy screening by specialists before being approved. "Although declassified, there is no way to tell why the NDF investment was approved so fast without specialist scrutiny," Liu added. In the days since the controversy arose, Tsai has said she had never participated in the formation of the company during her vice premiership. She said she later accepted the offer to serve as TaiMed chairwoman because the scientists promoting the project had sought her expertise in international negotiations to help push for the cooperation project with the American biotech firm. According to Tsai, she persuaded her family to invest in TaiMed to solve a capital shortage. Her family no longer holds any stake in the firm since selling its shares to the Ruentex Group in January 2009, she added. KMT lawmakers believe that Tsai and her family reaped immense profits from the sale. (By Lin Shen-hsu, Justin Su and Deborah Kuo)