Former DPP legislator Chou Po-lun's (
From a judicial perspective, Chou's sentencing is not a matter of political influence leading to a wrongful sentence. His accusation that five Supreme Court judges handed down their ruling without a careful review, his request for an extraordinary re-trial and a farewell party to see him off to jail were nothing more than an attempt to create a political future for himself once he gets out of jail. None of these things will have an impact on the justness of the judiciary.
Chou is one of the few serving legislators to be convicted and sent to jail in the past decade or so -- although he lost his seat last month when he was found guilty. During the KMT-era, the only ones to go to jail were former legislators Huang Hsin-chieh (
But Chou has been closely associated with President Chen Shui-bian (
But Chou is not the only leading light of the DPP to face legal problems because of corruption allegations. Yu Chen Yueh-ying (
In the KMT era the judiciary was always a political tool. The KMT leadership even allowed some politicians to get away after they were implicated in corruption cases. Former legislator Wu Tse-yuan (
The actions of the DPP administration, in contrast, have been a major improvement in terms of judicial independence. The party demanded Chou respect the judiciary's ruling while Yu Chen resigned as senior advisor to the president as soon as she was indicted.
The DPP was elected because the people resented the KMT's legacy of corruption. In the three years of DPP rule, there have been corruption cases at both the central and local government levels, such as the vote-buying scandal in the Kaohsiung City Council speaker's election. But the DPP has tried hard to avoid falling into the "black gold" quagmire. So far it has managed to keep itself clean fairly well -- despite allegations from opposition politicians.
Eradication of corruption and self-discipline will be key issues in next year's presidential election. Candidates who cannot rid themselves of "black gold" tar will not win the support of voters.
With escalating US-China competition and mutual distrust, the trend of supply chain “friend shoring” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fragmentation of the world into rival geopolitical blocs, many analysts and policymakers worry the world is retreating into a new cold war — a world of trade bifurcation, protectionism and deglobalization. The world is in a new cold war, said Robin Niblett, former director of the London-based think tank Chatham House. Niblett said he sees the US and China slowly reaching a modus vivendi, but it might take time. The two great powers appear to be “reversing carefully
As China steps up a campaign to diplomatically isolate and squeeze Taiwan, it has become more imperative than ever that Taipei play a greater role internationally with the support of the democratic world. To help safeguard its autonomous status, Taiwan needs to go beyond bolstering its defenses with weapons like anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles. With the help of its international backers, it must also expand its diplomatic footprint globally. But are Taiwan’s foreign friends willing to translate their rhetoric into action by helping Taipei carve out more international space for itself? Beating back China’s effort to turn Taiwan into an international pariah
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Taiwan is facing multiple economic challenges due to internal and external pressures. Internal challenges include energy transition, upgrading industries, a declining birthrate and an aging population. External challenges are technology competition between the US and China, international supply chain restructuring and global economic uncertainty. All of these issues complicate Taiwan’s economic situation. Taiwan’s reliance on fossil fuel imports not only threatens the stability of energy supply, but also goes against the global trend of carbon reduction. The government should continue to promote renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, as well as energy storage technology, to diversify energy supply. It
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