Because of the alleged involvement of Yunlin County Commissioner Chang Jung-wei (
Linnei township Mayor Chen Ho-shan (陳河山) admitted last month that he had accepted an NT$18 million "commission" to ensure the construction of the incinerator. With Chen in custody, the prosecutors were continuing the investigation to higher-ranking officials.
The raid on Chang's residence and office suggested that he might have put the rest of the alleged kickbacks, amounting
to NT$90 million, into his own pocket.
Chang and his family branded the raid as political persecution and revenge by the ruling party. After being investigated on claims of bribery, former Pingtung County commissioner Wu Tse-yuan (伍澤元) and fugitive Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪) made similar accusations. Chang's reasoning seems to hold true in view of his overt support for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan
(連戰) and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) in the presidential election and his role as a major campaigner for the year-end legislative elections.
However, as we look into
the development of the investigation, we can soon understand that Chang is playing political tricks.
The Linnei incinerator scandal was initially exposed by Yunlin County Councilor Yin Chien-ying (
Chang and his family are not the only ones interpreting the incident as political persecution.
Even the United Daily News attempted to give this impression to the public. A day after the prosecutors' raid on Chang's residence and office, that newspaper's reporter, Wang Liang-hsin (王良新), said that friends had arranged a meeting between him and Chang. Wang asked in the interview: "After the presidential election, your bribery case entered an intensive legal pro-cess. It was rumored that you would be sentenced and that the Democratic Progressive Party had already decided on the substitute commissioner. What is your view on the investigation?"
This was not only a leading question but also a fill-in-the-blanks question, leading Chang to treat the issue as a political one. The question was fed to Chang and, most important of all, it also suited the conclusion the newspaper had already reached.
Provided the involved parties -- the prosecutors, Chang and the newspaper -- attend the trial, the most trustworthy source is probably the prosecutors. Then we have to ask: if Lien and Soong had won the presidential election, would the prosecutors have investigated the case?
Would Chang be free from the so-called political persecution? We'd also like to ask: Why have Lien and Soong been associated with supporters like Wu, Chen Yu-hao and Chang? Although the question of whether Chang had accepted bribes is to be answered by the judicial authorities, we cannot help wondering why the shadow of corruption always follows the KMT and PFP.
Chin Heng-wei is editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.
Translated by Jennie Shih
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