Taiwan is worth more than US$460,000. If the KMT wants to treat its stolen US$20 billion "partisan assets" as a "historical problem," it should also treat the Presidential Office's alleged misuse of a US$460,000 "national affairs fund" as another "historical problem." Besides, the monetary ratio between the two cases is more than 40,000 to one.
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
In spite of the vast difference in monetary value, both cases should be settled in the court of justice on an equal and fair basis. Politicians, legislators, the media and citizens should all wait patiently, without interference or influence, for the results of the investigations and, if need by, the sentences handed out by the judiciary.
Meanwhile, the government must continue to run smoothly without confrontation or boycotts. The general public needs a quiet and peaceful environment for production and innovation to maintain Taiwan as a prosperous nation.
If the KMT is found guilty, its "partisan assets" -- with interest and penalty -- have to be returned to the national treasury. Chairman Ma should also be forbidden from running for president in 2008 for having sold a portion of the "partisan assets."
If President Chen is found guilty, he also has to return the misused portion of the "national affairs fund" with interest and penalty. He shall step down immediately, as he has promised.
Taiwan is much too valuable to be ruined by US$20 billion or US$460,000. The nation should never be allowed to become a political and industrial wasteland.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
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