The honorary chairman of the Taiwan Visitors Association joined the prestigious hotel in July 2008 without salary with as his main target to stem its losses.

He recently became the target of allegations that he put hotel money related to redecoration work in his own pockets after have done the same at the TVA with the Taipei travel fair when he was its chairman.

The Grand Hotel is owned by the Duen Mou Foundation, a juridical association under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.

Mao said there was an investigation into the accusations but they turned up no evidence. However, Chang was so angry that he decided to resign, the minister reportedly said.

Running the hotel was a heavy task, so Mao said he had to work hard to persuade Chang to accept the original appointment as chairman.

Premier Wu Den-yih told lawmakers Monday that he and Mao had both approved Chang’s resignation.

Chang himself said he had completed his assignment since the hotel was turning from a losing enterprise into a money-maker and the Yuan Shan Club in Kaohsiung was breaking even. He said he had sent a letter to Mao on February 23 tendering his resignation from the board of the Duen Mou Foundation.

Since only a foundation board member can serve as hotel chairman, the resignation from the board amounted to giving up the chairmanship, reports said.

Chang complained about his treatment, saying he did not behave at all like a chairman, since he drove his own car to work each day and had meals with other staff like a civil servant, reports said.

Chang said he helped Taipei’s international travel fair make NT$120 million and increase its number of stands fourfold without taking one cent. There was a receipt for each expense and each ticket sold and investigators had confirmed it, Chang said.

As to construction and redecoration work on the hotel, that was a task for his successor, the outgoing chairman said.

The Grand Hotel, with its traditional Chinese roof and red walls, is one of Taipei’s top landmarks. A fire in 1995 forced its closure for three years. Relations between management and staff have also been tense on occasions, especially at the Yuan Shan Club in Kaohsiung, which at one time was faced with closure. The group also runs a Grand Hotel in the southern city.