Scandals are always worth delving into. But clearly, not every incident that occurs becomes a scandal. So what makes for a real scandal?
What factors are involved? How does it develop?
With a methodological approach, all these questions can be answered to reveal the logic and effects of a scandal.
Regardless of one's approach, the latest incident, which has been dubbed the "Lo Shih Scandal" and involves the first family's housekeeper, Lo Shih Li-yun (
The people involved are Lo and a man surnamed Chen. They do not hold high positions. They were hired by the National Security Bureau, one as a servant, the other as a security guard.
The money: Lo's compensation over the past three years has been less than NT$1 million, not even NT$300,000 per year.
Neither of these two points merit any further comment. This is nothing like the Chung Hsing Bills scandal, when the main character, People First Party Chairman James Soong (
The money involved reached into the hundreds of millions of NT dollars. Nor is it anything like the question of how KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
The Chung Hsing Bills Finance affair merits the epithet "scandal," and so does the affair surrounding the Lien family fortune.
So why are we even talking about a "Lo Shih Scandal?"
What's more, Chen Ping-lin (陳炳林), a section chief in the National Security Bureau's Rules and Regulations Commission, has said that according to both an interpretation by the Council of Grand Justices and the trust and protection principle, Lo cannot be forced to return the compensation she received, which was less than NT$1 million.
Chen said, "Even if we wanted to, we might not be able to retrieve the money," because there has been no violation of administrative procedure.
In the Chung Hsing Bills scandal, on the other hand, Soong embezzled KMT party funds, and left the party without returning them. Only after being exposed was he forced to return the money.
There are no two ways about it: he took illegal possession of the money.
As for Lien, he has been a public servant all his life.
How could he have amassed such a substantial fortune? To this day, he is unable to give a clear account of the NT$36,280,000 he transferred to Wu Tse-yuan's (
So why has the Lo incident turned into a "scandal?"
The only reason is that it occurred in the home of the first family.
Any mistake committed by the first family, regardless of how insignificant, is played out before the whole nation.
But the attempt by the pan-blue camp and its supporting media to push the minor incident to its limit only shows that they have no substantive issues to work with. Instead, they used this trivial incident to launch a fierce attack. But instead of hurting their intended target, they may well have shot themselves in the foot.
Chin Heng-wei is editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.
Translated by Perry Svensson
There will be a new presidential administration in the United States in January 2025. It will be important for the Lai (賴清德) administration and America’s next administration to get on the same page quickly and visibly in respective efforts to bolster Taiwan’s security, economic vitality, and dignity and respect on the world stage. One key measure for doing so will be whether Washington and Taipei can coalesce around a common narrative for moving US-Taiwan relations forward. In recent years, Washington and Taipei have leaned into fear as a motivator for coordinated action. For a time, both sides publicly reinforced each other’s
Recently, the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) published three of my articles on the US presidential election, which is to be held on Nov. 5. I would like to share my perspective on the intense and stalemated presidential election with the people of Taiwan, as well as Taiwanese and Chinese Americans in the US. The current consensus of both major US political parties is to counter China and protect Taiwan. However, I do not trust former US president Donald Trump. He has questioned the US’ commitment to defending Taiwan and explicitly stated the significant challenges involved in doing so. “Trump believes
The government is considering building a semiconductor cluster in Europe, specifically in the Czech Republic, to support Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) new fab in Dresden, Germany, and to help local companies explore new business opportunities there. Europe wants to ensure the security of its semiconductor sector, but a lack of comprehensive supply chains there could pose significant risks to semiconductor clusters. The Czech government is aggressively seeking to build its own semiconductor industry and showing strong interest in collaborating with Taiwanese companies. Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) on Friday said that Taiwan is optimistic about building a semiconductor cluster in
Embroiled in multiple scandals, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Thursday announced that he would apply for a three-month leave of absence from his role as party leader, creating uncertainty about the future of the TPP and the “new politics” that he had promised to bring. Shortly after his announcement, Ko’s home and office were searched and he was questioned by prosecutors over his suspected involvement in a corruption case related to a real-estate development project. He was arrested early Saturday morning after he refused to be questioned at night and attempted to leave the prosecutors’ office. In
RSS