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Editorial: Why credit an alleged embezzler?

Tuntex group boss Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪) used to be a household name -- first as a successful tycoon and later as one of the nation's 10-most wanted fugitives. Last October, he called himself a "model Taiwanese businessman in China," boasting that he paid NT$2.4 billion in taxes per year to Beijing. His Chinese investments, however, are the result of the illegal transfer of large sums of money from Taiwan. He embezzled funds from Tuntex's subsidiaries and invested in Xiamen, Shanghai, Beijing, Hunan, Liaoning and elsewhere.

On Monday morning, Chen was back in the news after faxing letters to the media and pan-blue legislators accusing President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of accepting political donations from him in previous elections. With the presidential election just a few weeks away, such a public display raised suspicions about the fugitive's motives.

Tuntex started out in real-estate development and expanded into textiles, cement, petrochemicals and telecommunications. The conglomerate enjoyed various privileges from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime. KMT-run companies invested in all of Tuntex's subsidiaries.

According to estimates by the Taiwanese media, Chen Yu-hao, his wife and children left behind debts totaling NT$50 billion in Taiwan. After he was indicted and failed to answer a court summons, the Taipei District Court issued an arrest warrant last May.

Chen Yu-hao has hidden away in the US and China, refusing to return to Taiwan to answer any summons on the grounds of illness or business-related travel. He is apparently now in Hong Kong. CTiTV aired an exclusive interview with him yesterday, thereby showing his pretext for not returning to Taiwan -- that he was not fit enough to fly back -- to be a lie.

Chen Yu-hao's propensity to tell lies is quite well known in Taiwan's financial circles. The worst example dates back to 2000, when reports about a financial crisis in the Tuntex group first arose. When Tuntex asked the government for a bail-out, the Ministry of Finance and the central bank invited more than 50 banks to help find a way for Tuntex to weather the crisis. The banks agreed to lower their interest rates and adopt other measures to reduce Tuntex's financial burden. One month after the bail-out, however, reports began to emerge that Chen Yu-hao was making massive investments in China.

As for the timing of Chen Yu-hao's letters, apart from retaliating against the government for issuing an arrest warrant, he may also be hoping to boost his chances of returning home if the pan-blue ticket wins the election. Otherwise, he has nowhere to go and can only rely on Beijing for survival. It is also possible that he is pandering to Beijing's political needs and attacking the government to show his loyalty to China -- perhaps in the hope of protecting his investments there.

No matter what Chen Yu-hao's motivation, voters and the media should think long and hard about the character of this man -- and not be willing to dance to the tune of an unscrupulous person. The Beijing regime has frequently used behind-the-scene maneuvers to attack its enemies -- in China, in Taiwan and elsewhere. If Beijing's strategy proves effective, then the destiny of the Taiwanese people could be similar to those of Hong Kong and Macau -- meat on Beijing's chopping block.
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