Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) reputation was harmed by allegations made by Christina Liu (劉憶如), former head of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, over the Yu Chang Biologics Co [now known as TaiMed] case. The scandal, whipped up by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), caused irrevocable damage to the democratic value of fair elections as well as the nation’s biotechnology industry.
The Taipei District Court ruled that the allegations damaged Tsai’s reputation and ordered Liu to pay Tsai NT$2 million (US$61,630) in compensation, but the result of the 2012 presidential election, which Tsai lost, cannot be reversed. Hence, the public must always remember the KMT’s smear tactics, with which it won the election.
In democracies, political information is available to the public, which enables voters to elect the kind of people they want to see in public office.
When the KMT and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration made false accusations against Yu Chang and Tsai by falsifying documents, they misled the voters. The KMT has gravely damaged the democratic value of fair elections.
Prior to the 2012 election, the KMT was focusing on the Yu Chang allegation.
By having Liu publish falsified documents and letting then-KMT whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) hold press conferences, the KMT said that Tsai was seeking personal gain.
KMT legislators went so far as to demean Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) and world-renown AIDS researcher David Ho (何大一).
The KMT and its affiliates spent a considerable amount of money on advertising to discredit Yu Chang.
During the presidential debate, Ma attacked Tsai with questions about Yu Chang. Evidently, the KMT was willing to harm Taiwan’s biotechnology industry and fair elections to win the presidency.
Tsai held several press conferences, and made dozens of announcements and press releases to reveal the truth, while the KMT pulled out all the stops.
As a result, the public was confused and misguided by false information. After the Special Investigation Division (SID) took the initiative to investigate the case and confiscate official documents, the media reported on the “unusually fast pace of the National Development Fund’s approval of its Yu Chang investment.”
The government, KMT legislators and the SID were smearing Tsai. The KMT had enormous party assets to purchase advertising and the media were helping it to propagate its agenda.
Only a few months after Ma’s victory, former prosecutor-general Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) and the SID would find that there was nothing illegal about the Yu Chang case.
The Taipei District Court has ruled against Liu. The SID found no illegal dealings took place about the case and long overdue justice has been served.
However, nothing can be undone for voters who believed the falsified documents, trusted the SID’s investigation, Ma and Lin.
The only thing people can do now is learn from the mistakes and prevent any false accusations from impinging on future elections.
Huang Di-ying is an attorney and DPP spokesperson.
Translated by Ethan Zhan
With the Year of the Snake reaching its conclusion on Monday next week, now is an opportune moment to reflect on the past year — a year marked by institutional strain and national resilience. For Taiwan, the Year of the Snake was a composite of political friction, economic momentum, social unease and strategic consolidation. In the political sphere, it was defined less by legislative productivity and more by partisan confrontation. The mass recall movement sought to remove 31 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators following the passage of controversial bills that expanded legislative powers and imposed sweeping budget cuts. While the effort
There is a story in India about a boy called Prahlad who was an ardent worshipper of Lord Narayana, whom his father considered an enemy. His son’s devotion vexed the father to the extent that he asked his sister, Holika, who could not be burned by fire, to sit with the boy in her lap and burn him to death. Prahlad knew about this evil plan, but sat in his aunt’s lap anyway. His faith won, as he remained unscathed by the fire, while his aunt was devoured by the flames. In some small way, Prahlad reminds me of Taiwan
When Hong Kong’s High Court sentenced newspaper owner Jimmy Lai (黎智英) to 20 years in prison this week, officials declared that his “heinous crimes” had long poisoned society and that his punishment represented justice restored. In their telling, Lai is the mastermind of Hong Kong’s unrest — the architect of a vast conspiracy that manipulated an otherwise contented population into defiance. They imply that removing him would lead to the return of stability. It is a politically convenient narrative — and a profoundly false one. Lai did not radicalize Hong Kong. He belonged to the same generation that fled from the Chinese
Former Hong Kong media magnate Jimmy Lai (黎智英), who on Monday was sentenced to 20 years in jail for his role in the 2019 Hong Kong democracy movement and “colluding with foreign forces,” once called on members of the US government for support in his struggle against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Speaking to a forum at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in July 2019, Lai, speaking about the US having the moral authority over the CCP, said: “It’s like they are going to battle without any weapon, and you have the nuclear weapon. You can finish them in
RSS