A senior US State Department official on Tuesday praised Taiwan's handling of the multiple scandals afflicting the nation, calling it a sign of the strength of Taiwan's democracy.
"I think it's a good thing whenever a system is in place that allows for legal, peaceful processing of divisive issues," Thomas Christensen, the deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia specializing in Taiwan and China policy told reporters in Washington.
"This is a good sign for Taiwan's democracy, that they have a legal system that works through standard procedures, and that they have investigations and they have court proceedings, and that the political system remains stable," Christensen said in response to reporters' questions before he sat down at a US-Taiwan Business Council luncheon.
Reticent
The US government had previously refused to comment publicly on the corruption and other scandals that seem to erupt in Taiwan on a daily basis. The reason for US officials' reticence, Christensen said, was that "we have tremendous respect for Taiwan's system and the rule of law, and we expect that Taiwan authorities will deal with any potential problems they have on the legal front."
Conceding that corruption or allegations of corruption were not "in and of themselves a good thing," he added that "the real test of democracy, the real test of the rule of law, is when there are problems, and there are issues to be dealt with, they are dealt with in a smooth fashion that fits in with the Constitution and fits in with the legal practices in place."
Christensen's comments were the most specific yet made by a US government official on the series of corruption and financial scandals that have hit Taiwan in recent months.
Forthcoming
They went farther than the terse, formal comments that US State Department spokespersons have made at their regular daily briefings in response to reporters' questions over the past several weeks.
Christensen skirted a question about whether the scandals had soured government and public opinion about Taiwan, preferring to stress the positive aspect of the workings of the legal and political system.
His comments contrasted with the more negative aspects of reports that have appeared in major newspapers in recent weeks, which have highlighted the indictment of first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) and Prosecutor Eric Chen's (陳瑞仁) expressed opinion that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) could be subject to similar corruption charges if he were not protected by the immunity afforded by his office.
also see story:
No one at fault in probes, Su says
Investigators merge Weng, Ma cases
Analysis: Expense fund controversy just part of transitional justice, legal experts say
Editorial: Ma Ying-jeou just can't help himself
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced
RSS