It is generally acknowledged that the key to President Chen Shui-bian's (
Ironically, the notion of "black gold" became one of the hottest issues four years later as a fugitive businessman, Chen Yu-hao (
Chen Yu-hao's statements involved political motivations -- note his close connections to KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
Chen Yu-hao has been a heavyweight political donor for Lien and Soong.
Exactly what lies behind his scheme to create a shock wave in the presidential campaign remains unknown -- nevertheless, more attention must be paid to the potential resurgence of "black gold" politics.
The government's efforts to fight against "black gold" have had several consequences.
First, the issue of vote-buying has been tackled, as witnessed in the last elections at both the national and local levels. Second, the number of legislators or local officials who have criminal backgrounds and questionable connections with the KMT has been reduced.
Despite the fact that some notorious criminals have fled the country, their attempts to influence politics have never ceased.
Gloria Chu (
Gloria Chu was convicted of transferring money from the government's accounts to her own purse.
Wu was indicted for receiving bribes while in office.
Chu An-hsiung and Chang were charged with buying votes.
These cases, along with that of Chen Yu-hao, illustrate an inherent and destructive aspect of the nation's political structure that deserves greater public attention. Chen Yu-hao and other fugitives are the stereotypical result of Taiwan's unique "black gold" phenomenon -- a type of cronyism involving organized crime, political influence and local and central government officials.
During the KMT's rule, many people with backgrounds in organized crime or with criminal records were recruited into the political arena.
Many of them have successfully "laundered" themselves through elections and accumulated personal influence.
This has not only brought the legislative bodies at both the local and central levels into disrepute, but has also endangered social stability and economic development.
The result of "black gold" politics is a corrupt political environment, a loss of public confidence in judicial independence and the degradation of fairness and competition in the economy.
Now those involved in "black gold" politics are trying to influence the presidential election by helping the Lien-Soong ticket to win power.
What they are aiming for is a safe return to Taiwan and freedom from prosecution.
Instead of trying to sabotage Chen Shui-bian's campaign by utilizing Chen Yu-hao, Lien and his camp owe a fair explanation to the voters of how they would deal with people like Chen Yu-hao and whether they could root out "black gold" in the future.
Liu Kuan-teh is a political commentator based in Taipei.
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