Responding to recent developments concerning former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), members of several civic groups yesterday called for the passage of “sunshine bills” to combat corruption by public officials.
Participants at a colloquium sponsored by Taiwan Thinktank unanimously agreed that corruption by senior officials and public functionaries could be rooted out only by changing the governing systems, such as enactment of “sunshine bills” that would oblige senior officials and civil servants to account for their private assets.
At the colloquium, Hung Yu-hung (洪裕宏), convener of the Constitution Reform Alliance, called for the legislature to enact a law at the next legislative session that would make it a crime for government officials to hold unaccounted-for wealth.
“Under current circumstances, there will be no solid evidence to adequately prove that the huge amount of money that Chen’s wife wired overseas were the gains of corruption committed by Chen during his tenures as president and Taipei mayor,” Hung said.
“In the current legal environment, there is no way to charge Chen with corruption,” he said, adding that the scandal would at best only affect public opinion of Chen’s morals.
Hung suggested the legislature enact a law that would make it a crime for government officials to hold unexplained wealth.
The law should be retroactive — allowing all senior officials, sitting or retired, to be scrutinized in terms of possession of private assets, he said.
“If that law is put into force, Chen would unavoidably be found guilty and many figures from the Democratic Progressive Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] could be indicted,” Hung said.
“Half of the politicians in the country would be downed by the law — consequently ushering in a new, clean and competent government,” he said.
Ku Chung-hua (顧忠華), chairman of Citizen Congress Watch, urged the KMT-dominated legislature to pass the bill as soon as possible so that all government officials and public officials could be scrutinized by the same rules and criteria.
Meanwhile, Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), an executive director at Taiwan Thinktank, urged the public yesterday to take part in a demonstration being organized by the pro-independence Taiwan Society and other activists groups next Saturday.
Hsu called for the public to join the rally, saying that the march — aimed at championing people’s power in overseeing the government — is neither pro-Chen nor anti-Chen.
Chen, his wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) and Wu’s elder brother Wu Ching-mao (吳景茂) were listed earlier this week as suspects in an alleged overseas money laundering case and have been barred from leaving the country.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said yesterday that she would participate in the demonstration.
“It is inappropriate for the public to label the demonstration as a pro-Chen Shui-bian event,” she said.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to 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), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai