樑振英對避稅指責保持緘默
Hong Kong’s chief executive has refused to respond to claims that he should have paid tax on millions of pounds he received in undisclosed payments related to the purchase of a property company.
香港特首曾在一家房地產公司的收購中收取數百萬英鎊“祕密款項”，而他拒絕對應繳納稅款的要求作出迴應。
Media reports last week revealed that CY Leung was paid £4m by an Australian engineering firm called UGL in relation to its acquisition of DTZ, a property company, during his time as leader of the Chinese territory.
上週有媒體報道，一家名爲UGL的澳大利亞工程公司在對物業公司戴德樑行(DTZ)的收購中，支付了時任香港特首的樑振英(CY Leung) 400萬英鎊。Mr Leung has rejected the claims that he should have revealed the payments and said he was under no obligation to pay “salaries tax”, since the money was part of a non-compete deal that was not taxable.
樑振英對他應披露這筆款項的要求予以拒絕，並表示自己沒有義務支付“薪俸稅”，因爲這筆錢是一份競業禁止協議的一部分，不必繳稅。
Critics have pointed out that the deal contained a provision for him to act as an adviser from “time to time” – meaning that some of the £4m would qualify as income which would be taxable in Hong Kong.
批評人士指出，該協議包含了他“時不時”擔任顧問的條款，這意味着400萬英鎊中的一部分屬於香港的應徵稅收入。Kenneth Leung, a tax expert and opposition politician, last week told the Financial Times that the chief executive would be obliged to pay tax on part of the money. He has since asked the Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department to look into the matter and to determine whether the leader should have paid tax.
稅務專家、反對派政治人士樑繼昌(Kenneth Leung)上週對英國《金融時報》表示，特首有義務爲這筆款項的一部分交稅。之後樑繼昌要求香港稅務局(Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department)調查此事，並確定樑振英是否應納稅。He has also asked the UK’s Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Conduct Authority to look into the deal because DTZ was a UK-listed company at the time of the takeover.
他還要求英國嚴重欺詐辦公室(Serious Fraud Office)和金融市場行爲監管局(Financial Conduct Authority)調查這項協議，因爲戴德樑行在被收購時是一家英國上市公司。Hong Kong’s anti-graft agency has also been asked to investigate the payments, which were arranged before Mr Leung became chief executive but paid after he assumed the role in 2012.
香港反貪部門也被要求調查這筆款項，因爲雖然相關協議達成於樑振英成爲香港特首之前，但款項支付是在2012年他出任該職務之後。Despite multiple requests to his office, the chief executive declined to respond to questions about whether he should have paid the tax.
儘管樑振英辦公室多次收到要求，但這位特首拒絕對是否應繳納稅款的問題作出迴應。In a television interview at the weekend, Mr Leung reiterated that the money was not income and said it was “not necessary” to pay tax.
上週末樑振英在一次電視採訪中強調這筆錢不屬於收入，並表示沒必要交稅。Mr Leung, who is widely considered to be pro-Beijing, rejected calls for his resignation. He said protesters would not be satisfied with his departure because their goal was to get China to reverse course on a plan for electoral reform in the former British colony – something that he said had “zero” chance of happening.
樑振英拒絕了要求他辭職的呼籲，他被廣泛認爲是親北京的。他表示抗議者不會滿足於他下臺，因爲他們的目標是讓中央推翻之前對這塊前英國殖民地選舉制度改革作出的計劃，樑振英說此事的機會“等於零”。The questions come as the chief executive is under pressure over the democracy protests that have paralysed the Central district of Hong Kong. Harcourt Road, the main protest zone close to the government’s headquarters, is replete with street art depicting Mr Leung as everything from Dracula to the Devil.
樑振英遭到質疑之際，正面臨民主抗議帶來的壓力，民主抗議已使香港中環癱瘓。靠近港府總部的主要抗議區夏愨道(Harcourt Road)充斥着把樑振英描繪成吸血鬼德古拉(Dracula)和魔鬼等各種形象的街頭藝術。“Occupy” Hong Kong entered its 16th day on Monday with no sign that the students leading the peaceful civil disobedience movement were prepared to end their campaign for more political rights in the Chinese territory.
香港“佔中”活動在週一已進入第16天，領導這一和平的不合作公民運動的學生仍未顯露出準備結束這一運動的跡象。該運動的目的是在香港爭取更多政治權利。Police started removing some of the barricades blocking entry to the main protest zone on Monday, but said the action was intended to ease traffic congestion and was not a move to clear demonstrators. Groups opposed to the Occupy movement clashed with demonstrators close to the government buildings.
警方週一開始拆除一些擋住主要抗議區入口的路障，但表示此舉旨在緩解交通堵塞，並不是爲了趕走示威人士。反對“佔中”活動的人羣在政府大樓附近與示威人士發生了衝突。Criticism of the protests has grown in recent days as people hit by the road closures have called on the students to stop disrupting traffic and commerce.
近日，對抗議的批評增多，受到道路封鎖影響的人們呼籲學生停止擾亂交通和商業。
