Taiwan's young democracy may seem to be in a mess, with the first lady indicted on corruption charges and prosecutors saying they have enough evidence to go after the president.
But analysts say there's an important bright spot: Taiwan's democratic system is showing that it's mature enough to have legal officials prosecute some of the nation's most powerful people.
This would be unthinkable in many Asian countries.
And it certainly wouldn't have happened 20 years ago in Taiwan, when the president enjoyed almost unlimited powers under martial law.
The scandal exploded on Friday when prosecutors announced they were holding President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) accountable for his role in the alleged theft of NT$ 14.8 million (US$450,000) from a "state affairs fund." The fund is a discretionary budget with relatively little oversight.
They also indicted his wife, Wu Shu-jen (
They said Chen would be brought to justice upon leaving office, when his presidential immunity from prosecution lapses.
The development shocked many people who had strong doubts about whether their still-evolving democracy was mature enough for prosecutors to investigate top leaders without interference from above.
But the recent moves against Chen and Wu have changed perceptions, said Philip Yang (
The prosecutors' decision proves "that Taiwan has entered the stage of forming and consolidating a system of law and affirming democratic values," Yang said. "This is a critical stage on the way to becoming a mature democracy."
Yang acknowledged it was understandable for many Taiwanese to be surprised that the prosecutors had confronted Chen and his wife head-on.
"The feelings of doubt about the Taiwanese judiciary did not come out of nowhere," he said. "Any time there is a change from authoritarian to democratic rule, it is inevitable that past influences will still have an effect on the party and politicians in power."
Andrew Yang (
"The Taiwanese experience could put a lot of pressure on Chinese politicians in terms of their own anti-corruption campaign," Andrew Yang said. "Chinese people could pressure their government to do more against corruption and adopt the Taiwanese model."
He was referring to the widespread corruption in China, which has become a serious concern for the Chinese Communist Party.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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