President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday blamed partisan politics for the controversy caused by his "state affairs fund," saying that it was unfair to hold him accountable for the fund's bad design.
"Democratic politics is partisan politics and competition among political parties is perfectly justified. However, national security and the national interest cannot be used as a bargaining chip or weapon," he said. "Before I took over the presidency, many of the president's secret funds did not conform to accounting and auditing regulations, but I never questioned them as being irregular or corrupt."
Chen made the remarks at the Presidential Office while addressing representatives attending this year's Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission conference.
Chen reiterated his special allowance fund was used entirely for public purposes and not a single dollar was used to line his own pockets.
"I believe the judicial system will prove my innocence and history will clear my name," he said. "I hope the public respects the judicial inquiry into the matter and waits patiently for the courts ruling."
Chen said that many diplomatic undertakings were confidential and could not be disclosed to prosecutors in light of the nation's diplomatic predicament.
"Most of the time you cannot apply normal standards," he said. "There are so many of secrets that cannot be revealed to anyone and some should be forever kept secret."
There were many things he wished he could lay bare so the public would have a clearer picture, but he had to take the national interest into consideration, Chen said.
Faced with China's suppression of the nation's diplomatic space, Chen said that the government has made strenuous efforts over the years to expand the nation's international presence via all kinds of possible means, including official, unofficial, public and private ones.
Since it took time to establish relationships, especially with non-diplomatic allies, Chen said the impact would be destructive if such relationships were sabotaged or contacts were lost.
Commenting on the street protests calling for his resignation, Chen said that it reflected the maturity of the nation's democratic system.
In his speech, Chen also recognized the legislative committees' preliminary approval of the NT$6.1 billion (US$185 million) confidential budget earmarked for 12 P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft on Monday.
"We have only one Taiwan and national security should transcend partisan politics," he said. "The country, after all, belongs to everyone rather than one party alone."
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods