The Taiwan High Court on Tuesday reversed a previous verdict and ruled that the KMT should return eight plots in Taipei county, saying the initial decision violated national property law.

'We are surprised by the High Court's decision and basically we would appeal the ruling,' said KMT spokesman Huang Yu Chen.

Local media said the 5,000-ping (4.1-acre) land has a market value between NT$3.5-4 billion (S$154-177.5 million).

The KMT's assets have been a major target of attacks by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the run up to the January parliamentary elections and the March presidential polls.

Once one of the world's wealthiest political parties, the KMT said in a first ever report on party assets in 2006 that its wealth had shrunk to around US$27.7 billion after huge investment losses in the 1990s.

The KMT traces much of its wealth to its origins in pre-communist China, but it has been accused of illegally amassing a fortune through cozy business links while in power.

The KMT fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war on the mainland to the communists. Its grip on power ended when DPP's Chen Shui Bian was elected in 2000.

KMT's Ma Ying Jeou is locked in a heated race with the DPP's Frank Hsieh to succeed Mr Chen, who is retiring in May after serving two terms. -- AFP