Head rolls in Evergreen Group feud

Descendents from deceased Evergreen Group founder Chang Yung-fa’s first marriage moved to oust Chang Kuo-wei by using representational power vested in the Chang Yung-Fa Foundation. The airline’s spokesperson Nieh Kuo-wei was also replaced by Ko Chin-cheng, the conglomerate’s representative to its China operations. Ko, perhaps not unsurprisingly, praised Lin in a post meeting press conference, saying that his experience helped the airline survive historically high oil prices, the financial crisis as well as post-September 11 aviation industry turbulence. Following his replacement by Lin, Chang said he would “persevere to the very end”.
Chang Kuo-wei’s lawyer Song Hui-ming released a statement calling the process of removing Chang “unlawful” while calling the move to prevent adherence to Evergreen Group founder Chang Yung-fa’s final will “extremely regrettable”. The statement also indicated the board meeting process went against previous interpretations by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
In accordance with Article 204 of the Company Act, notice of the subject of a board of directors meeting needs to be given no later than seven days prior to the scheduled meeting date.
The act, however, adds that “in the case of emergency, the meeting may be convened at any time”. An official of the MOEA later stated that the emergency condition used to convene the ad-hoc board meeting on Friday needed to be verified by a judge.
Lin countered in a press conference by stating that the move to replace Chang was legal, adding that he had obtained support from three independent directors. However, he would not reveal the identity of those who supported his replacement.
Lin said that while Chang was not present during the meeting, he was represented by a proxy. With regard to whether the move violated the deceased tycoon’s final will, Lin said the matter must to be solved by the family.