Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday lambasted the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for waging a political vendetta against him and members of the former government, saying that democracy and the rule of law had regressed to the dark age of the Martial Law era.
“I am here solemnly protesting,” he said in a statement read by Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒), editor-in-chief of Contemporary Magazine, at an international press conference in Taipei. “My protests and accusations are not just for my own benefit ... but for the sake of Taiwan's freedom, democracy, human rights, justice and its independence.”
Chen denied any wrongdoing in his statement yesterday. He said his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), had wired leftover election funds to overseas accounts without his knowledge, but denied it was dirty money.
PHOTO: SAM YEH, AFP
Yesterday's press conference attracted some Chen supporters who chanted “release A-bian [Chen's nickname],” “A-bian innocent” and “political persecution,” and held banners that read “Taiwanese are not Chinese, just like Americans are not Englishmen” and “Taiwan jiayou.”
“I believe the verdict in my case has long been reached in advance and that my sentence has already been determined because it is not really up to the prosecutors and judges who are merely following orders to make such decisions,” Chen said in the statement.
Conducting more judicial proceedings would not hide the fact that the government is waging a political vendetta against its political opponents, his statement said, adding that the Ma administration was using its campaign against corruption as a cover-up to smear and vilify the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for promoting Taiwan-centered consciousness.
“I may be the first person persecuted, but I believe I will not be the last one,” Chen said.
The former president said that a new authoritarian regime was taking shape, and with the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) one-party rule working in consonance with the Chinese Communist Party, Taiwan's judiciary had become a tool for political suppression and persecution.
He criticized the Ma administration for leaning heavily on China in exchange for small favors, adding that after the KMT returned to power, it launched a relentless campaign to “purge and cleanse” the former DPP administration.
The best example, he said, was their decision to handcuff him, hold him incommunicado and isolate him from the world soon after Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) visited Taiwan.
He said he was willing to put his political donations under public scrutiny, but the same standards must apply to all politicians, including the KMT's dubious assets.
Chen was first detained last November and released in December. He was detained again and has remained in custody since Dec. 30. Chen was indicted for money laundering, accepting bribes, forgery and embezzling NT$15 million (US$450,000) during his presidency. His wife was charged with corruption and forgery in connection with Chen's use of a special presidential fund known as the “state affairs fund.”
At a separate setting yesterday, the DPP slammed prosecutors for delaying their investigations into KMT officials' use of their special allowances. DPP legislators filed lawsuits in May 2007 with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, accusing 97 KMT officials — including Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰), KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) and KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) — of misusing their special allowances during their tenure as public officials.
“More than 600 days have passed, but prosecutors have not completed their probe and publicly announced the results,” DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told a press conference.
Prosecutors, who only investigated pan-green officials but not pan-blue officials, had become government tools who use double standards in dealing with government officials' use of their special allowances, she said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
RSS