A prominent Taiwanese-American organization on Friday accused the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration of eroding Taiwan’s democracy during his term, and charged it with conducting a spate of “politically inspired” arrests of opposition leaders over the past two weeks.
The organization, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) based in Washington, asked the US government to express its concern over what it called the “deterioration of human rights and democracy in Taiwan” under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration of Ma.
In its biting statement, FAPA, a leading pro-green lobbying group, also recalled the days of martial law “White Terror” under earlier KMT rule.
The arrests — coming just before a visit from China’s top cross-strait negotiator, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) — have resulted in the detention of four Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politicians and the indictment of a fifth on charges ranging from corruption and embezzlement to assault.
The latest case involved former National Security Council secretary-general Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), who was detained on Friday on suspicion of embezzling US$500,000 from a diplomatic fund.
Chiou, who is also a former deputy premier, was considered in Washington to be one of the prime diplomatic and political liaisons between the administrations of Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and US President George W. Bush through much of the Chen administration.
His detention came within days of other indictments and detentions. Tainan City Councilor Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) was indicted in connection with a melee in which visiting ARATS Vice Chairman Zhang Mingqing (張銘清) fell to the ground during a visit to Tainan in advance of Chen’s trip. DPP Chiayi County Commissioner Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) and former environmental protection minister James Lee (李界木) were both detained.
Complaining about the Ma administration’s legal action against those four officials, FAPA also cited the Oct. 15 arrest of former interior minister Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) in Kaohsiung on corruption charges.
In a statement, FAPA president Bob Yang (楊英育) called the prosecutions unfair and a violation of the officials’ basic rights.
“We also question the fairness of the procedures: While one or two of the accused have been formally charged, the majority are being held incommunicado and without charge,” he said.
“This is a severe contravention of the writ of habeas corpus and a basic violation of due process, justice and the rule of law. In the meantime, the prosecutor’s offices leak detrimental information to the press. This kind of ‘trial by press’ is unacceptable,” Yang said.
In urging the US government and Congress to express “their deep concern” over the situation, Yang said, “the present cases endanger the progress made during the 21 years since the end of the Kuomintang’s [KMT] martial law in 1987. As members of the Taiwanese-American community, we believe that a return to the KMT’s ‘White Terror’ days of 1945 to 1987 should be avoided at all cost.”
Yesterday in Taipei, former vice-president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) also condemned the government for its detention of Chiou and other aides of the former president, calling the detentions a violation of human rights.
“I’ve not seen such large-scale detainments since the Kaohsiung Incident. It seems like the prosecutors detained people before finding any evidence, and I feel disturbed by such a procedure,” she said.
The Kaohsiung Incident, also known as the Formosa Incident, was an anti-government demonstration organized by Formosa Magazine on Dec. 10, 1979. The event turned into a violent confrontation, and as a result, Lu and seven other pro-democracy activists were arrested by the former KMT government.
Lu said recent developments in the allegations against former president Chen Shui-bian and his former aides were “unbelievable” to her, adding it was difficult for her to believe that what the prosecutors have said was all true.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS