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Johnny Neihu's Mailbag

Reeking of the bad old days

Dear Johnny,

It is a sad day in Taiwan when anyone is “taken into custody judging from the severity of his alleged crimes and the possibility of him orchestrating testimonies with other suspects.” Is there no possibility of bail? What if the police arrested and imprisoned everyone based on the possibility of what he or she might do?

I understand that a person is not presumed innocent until proven guilty under Taiwanese law, but this is ridiculous. Truly, this is a politically motivated detention. This has nothing to do with the law and due process. Is the KMT so insecure in its power that it must resort to tactics like this?

Please don’t misunderstand me. I am no lover of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), but I do have respect for law and due process. Sadly, it is apparent that the ruling party does not. This reeks of the bad old days of martial law.

DISAPPOINTED IN ARIZONA

Johnny replies: You could be the most progressive and enlightened person on Earth, but when it comes to blue-green political fights, it’s amazing how quickly people rally around the party flag. The remarkable thing is just how neurotically the pro-KMT talkshows are concentrating on the Chen case while ignoring — and worsening — the damage that is being done to the credibility of the judiciary.

This is easily done in Chen’s case, of course, because he remains such an easy target. So easy, in fact, that a good proportion of his former colleagues are reluctant to have anything to do with his latest campaign for attention.

But watch what’s happening. Even other countries and global rights agencies are beginning to speak out. Oops.

All I can say is: If you live among people with brains sedated by colonial valium, there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned bit of shame shock-therapy from overseas to perk things up a bit.

The big league

Dear Johnny,

A-bian is a human being like the rest of us. To lock him up for doing what all big league politicians in Taiwan do is ridiculous, at the very least.

Chen’s biggest sin in my humble opinion was not having the balls to dismantle the Farmers’ Association, which he had promised to address during his campaign. This organization is so fundamental to the KMT conquerors from the mainland.

Police in Taiwan are a joke. They’re more interested in staying inside their air-conditioned offices than anything else.

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is doing exactly what everyone expected him to do: Kiss China’s ass.

Is there a future for democracy in Taiwan? Perhaps. Is there a future for sovereignty in Taiwan? Most likely … when China grows up and learns about confederation and stops its efforts to recreate some ancient dynasty.

The Han who have been on Taiwan for hundreds of years owe a huge debt to the environment, the indigenous tribes they diminished, the animal species they extinguished — and themselves for putting up with endless invasions.

BILL PARKHURST

Forestville, California



Johnny replies: When Ma Ying-jeou was acquitted of corruption charges, some of us actually felt relieved. If Ma had gone down, the fabric of a corrupt system of governance would have crumbled amid masses of court cases and detentions. Instead, we thought his acquittal would trigger a comprehensive rewriting of rules and regulations covering the behavior of public officials.

We were optimistic. There has been no sincere push to improve accountability — except for popular local DPP leaders and hacks from the previous government.

The problem is not that people are in detention; the problem is that they are in detention using rules — and even breaking rules — crafted to destroy dissidents.

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