Tsai Ing-wen's brothers vow they will avoid conflicts of interests

Taipei, March 14 (CNA) President-elect Tsai Ying-wen's (蔡英文) four elder brothers issued a joint statement Monday promising that they will abide by all of the laws and rules governing conflicts of interests after their younger sister becomes Taiwan's new leader on May 20.

The statement, issued through their lawyer Lien Yuan-lung (連元龍), was a response to a special report by the Apple Daily a day earlier that detailed the Tsais' business operations and legal cases.

Tsai herself said she felt "discomfort" for having her family members exposed by the media.

The brothers said they and their sisters pledged to keep their current businesses and "will not make new investments in domestic businesses."

"This is our political commitment," said Tsai Ying-nan (蔡瀛南), Tsai Ying-yang (蔡瀛陽), Tsai Ying-ming (蔡瀛明) and Tsai Ying-cheng (蔡瀛政).

Tsai's elder sisters -- Tsai Feng-chiao (蔡鳳嬌), Tsai Ying-chun (蔡瀛君), Tsai Ying-ju (蔡瀛如) and Tsai Ying-ling (蔡英玲) -- did not sign the joint statement.

The four brothers corrected a side story carried by the newspaper which said Tsai Ing-wen chaired a family meeting on managing and investing part of the family assets before their father, Tsai Chieh-sheng (蔡潔生), died in 2006.

Tsai did not chair the meeting, they said, noting she was just invited to join a discussion of their father's suggestion that each of the four brothers contribute to a family fund for joint investments.

In fact, they did not reach a consensus on the joint investment proposal, they said.

Tsai Ying-nan owns a business group in Taipei that covers hotel, restaurant, supermarket and other businesses.

Tsai Ing-cheng currently lives in the United States.

Tsai Ying-yang, a retired physician, runs an investment company in Taipei.

Tsai Ying-ming, a board member in Ying-nan's business group, resides in Japan.

Of the sisters, only Tsai Ying-ling operates a business in Taiwan. Feng-chiao and Ying-ju live in the U.S. and Ying-chun lives in Germany.

Sunday's newspapers, with the Apple Daily's front page story centering on Tsai's family wealth (lower right):

#Taiwanheadlines: New premier? Tsai family wealth, ousted EVA Air chair, AlphaGohttps://t.co/sSI3LtQY28 pic.twitter.com/O1A9SSlLuq

— Focus Taiwan (@Focus_Taiwan) March 13, 2016