They criticized me for not being transparent about the price of natural gas purchased from the United States. People's Party Caucus: How can CNPC get the money to reinvest due to its high debt ratio?

U.S. President Trump recently revealed that Taiwan has committed to purchasing US$70 billion to US$80 billion of Alaskan liquefied natural gas (LNG) and agreed to invest US$4.4 billion in equity investment. In response, the People's Caucus today criticized the opaque price of natural gas purchased by my country from the United States, which cannot be explained by the Minister of Economic Affairs as "very beautiful". It questioned the source of CNPC's investment in the face of high debt ratio, and called on future relevant purchase contracts to be sent to the Legislative Yuan for review in advance, so that the people of Taiwan should not be informed later.

The Popular Party Group held a press conference in front of the Legislative Yuan earlier today (16th). All eight legislators of the Party Group attended to receive joint interviews from the media and responded to today’s agenda of the session, the Party Group’s proposals, etc.

When asked by the media, Trump took the lead in announcing during the campaign that Taiwan has agreed to purchase 30% of Alaskan natural gas in the next 20 years and invest another US$4.4 billion (approximately NT$143.1 billion). Economic Minister Gong Mingxin also revealed that the price obtained by Taiwan is "very beautiful." However, South Korea has reserved its position on this plan and asked the caucus for its opinion.

"Unfortunately, we only found out about this from newspapers and even from Trump's rallies." Legislator Hong Yuxiang, chairman of the People's Caucus, criticized Taiwan's purchase of natural gas from Alaska as opaque, and the actual amount spent cannot be explained to the public by the Minister of Economic Affairs simply using adjectives. Regarding the construction of the US$4.4 billion pipeline, he also criticized the investment as a "bottomless pit."

Hong Yuxiang also pointed out that in the supplementary budget proposed by the Executive Yuan a few months ago, more than NT$200 billion was used to increase CNPC's capital, and an additional NT$101.4 billion was allocated to subsidize CNPC's oil prices. He questioned that when CNPC's finances have deteriorated so much and the debt ratio is so high, "I really don't know where you have a huge US$4.4 billion that can be used for investment. Where does the money come from?"

He bluntly stated that such important policy information should not always be known to the Taiwanese people and the Legislative Yuan through external channels such as Trump’s rallies and American newspapers. He called on the government to be transparent and open. He also suggested that such major energy procurement contracts should be submitted to the Legislative Yuan in advance to facilitate the supervision and review by legislators and confirm the rationality of the plan.