Taipei is awash with secrets -- classified informa-tion, secret witnesses, state secrets. It appears that little can be kept under wraps for very long in Taiwan's political arena, given the fondness of politicians for self-aggrandizing press conferences and mudslinging. Sometimes it is hard to figure out which country some of these legislators think they are representing. Many in the media are not much better, preferring rumor to fact, anonymous sources to verifiable witnesses.
No matter what the motivation, anyone who leaks state secrets endangers public safety. If the classified documents mentioned by legislators and reporters in recent scandals truly reveal official corruption, then these documents should be immediately turned over to the law enforcement authorities, not used in press conferences or magazine articles. To do otherwise not only makes a mockery of the the law but could damage national security.
Too many of Taiwan's lawmakers not only have a fondness for leaking classified information, they enjoy abusing their legislative immunity. They are forever calling press conferences in order to publicize wildly speculative claims -- without taking the time to confirm the information they are proclaiming. Facts and figures pale before speculation, innuendo and outright lies.
Once it was members of the New Party who excelled at such skullduggery. Now there are a few PFP members in the Legislative Yuan who make their New Party predecessors look like rank amateurs in the art of political character assassination. The PFP should, however, take time to remember that the New Party's implosion was largely due to the public's suspicions over the party's political motivations -- suspicions spawned by the way it conducted its smear-campaigns. Today the PFP is using the New Party's tactics of using information from secret witnesses to attack its political enemies, fanning ethnic divisions and then pleading legislative immunity or "the public's right to know" when challenged to back up their claims.
The veracity of some of the New Party's more outrageous allegations -- the accusations made by former lawmakers Hsieh Chi-ta (
One can only hope that the authorities will leave no stone unturned as they investigate the allegations about the National Security Bureau's secret funds as well as the allegations against Lee and his family. The public is owed a clear explanation, so they will know once and for all who is telling the truth. But the public must give law enforcement and judicial authorities time to do their work and not fall for political lies and secret witness' accounts hook, line and sinker.
Secret witnesses are not always reliable. They have their uses, but politicians and the media should be very careful about using the information they provide -- and not until it can be verified. After all, it it not those whose identity is hidden who will suffer from wrong information and lies, it is their victims.
Unfortunately, it is unlikely that politicians will lose their taste for malicious innuendo, given the outrageous decision last week by the judge in the Hsieh, Fung, Tseng suit and countersuit. The judge basically gave legislators a license to spread the most malicious gossip and half-baked lies, providing of course, they proclaim they are do so in the public interest.
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