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
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique