Press Conference on the Signing of the "Loving Taiwan, Ethnic Harmony: Public Welfare Trust Ethnic Harmony Fund"

This morning (the 23rd) at 10:00 AM in the National Bar Association meeting room, the Judicial Reform Foundation transferred funds donated by Kingston Technology pursuant to the donation agreement between Kingston and the Foundation. Entrusting the Central Trust of China , they established the "Public Welfare Trust Ethnic Harmony Fund," aimed at promoting ethnic harmony, resolving social confrontation, and carrying out related public welfare matters.

Following the presidential election last year (2004), Mr. David Sun (孫大衛) of Kingston Technology observed the social turbulence and unrest caused by election disputes, as well as the considerable controversy surrounding election litigation due to the exorbitant costs of ballot recounts. Motivated by a desire for Taiwanese society to uphold the ideals of "ethnic integration" and "loving Taiwan" and to rationally resolve related disputes through judicial procedures, he pledged to donate NT$100 million to the Judicial Reform Foundation. The Foundation was to use these funds, following the conclusion of relevant election lawsuits, to subsidize parties responsible for paying recount costs. On April 16 of last year, the Foundation publicly signed an agreement with a representative of Kingston Technology and established the "Loving Taiwan Ethnic Integration Special Account" to handle matters concerning the subsidization of election litigation inspection (recount) costs. Furthermore, the agreement stipulated that any remaining funds must be used to promote ethnic integration, human rights education, legal education, and judicial reform, with at least fifty percent allocated specifically to the promotion of ethnic integration.

As of September 16 of this year, the Supreme Court delivered final judgments on the lawsuits concerning the invalidity of the election and election results. Kingston Technology, in accordance with the agreement, made an initial donation of NT$50 million to our Foundation (the remaining NT$50 million will be disbursed next year), and our Foundation accordingly subsidized the relevant costs for Mr. Lien Chan (連戰) and Mr. James Soong (宋楚瑜). Today, our Foundation intends to use the entire remaining balance of NT$35,434,199 in the special account to establish the "Public Welfare Trust Ethnic Harmony Fund" pursuant to the Trust Act. During the research and establishment process, our Foundation engaged in numerous discussions with individuals from all walks of life and held planning seminars. Ultimately, fifteen socially impartial figures were selected to serve as members of the advisory committee, including Chiu Hei-yuan (瞿海源), Michael Hsiao (蕭新煌), Chen Chuan-yue (陳傳岳), Chang Mao-kuei (張茂桂), Huang Jui-ming (黃瑞明), Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華), Chien Hsi-chieh (簡錫堦), Peter Nguyen Van Hung (阮文雄), Wang Fu-chang (王甫昌), Hsia Hsiao-chuan (夏曉鵑), Huang Chang-ling (黃長玲), Stephen Wu (吳志光), Pawan Yumin (楊志航), Chen Yi-chien (陳宜倩), and one representative from Kingston Technology. They will review applications submitted from all sectors for projects beneficial to ethnic harmony, provide project-based subsidies, or proactively initiate plans to advance ethnic harmony in Taiwanese society, hoping to foster mutual respect and trust among Taiwan's diverse cultures.