On Thursday last week, Changhua County Council Speaker Hsieh Dien-lin (謝典霖) and his father were taken into custody and denied access to visitors or communications in connection with a June banquet that authorities allege constituted vote-buying and embezzlement of public funds.
The incident has dealt a severe blow to the protective umbrella that has long shielded powerful local political families from scrutiny.
It also makes the barrage of denials and excuses offered by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) after foreign media shone a light on vote-buying allegations look utterly self-defeating.
However, the comments by foreign journalists pale in comparison to the evidence emerging from judicial authorities. Hsieh and others allegedly organized more than 10 banquet tables as part of a planned vote-buying operation while using pretexts to fraudulently obtain public funds from the county council to foot the bill. Local politicians have apparently become so brazen that they no longer feel the need to pay out of their own pockets; they simply treat the council as a private ATM, using taxpayers’ hard-earned money to keep their political families in power.
Corrupt systems, in which public institutions are treated as private property, are commonplace across areas governed by KMT-aligned local factions.
On Sept. 1, six current and former KMT Taitung County councilors, including Deputy Speaker Lin Tsung-han (林琮翰), were investigated over alleged abuse of their positions to benefit the family of Taitung County Council Speaker Wu Hsiu-hua (吳秀華) to develop and widen a farm road leading to a private resort owned by the Wu family.
In Hualien County on Sept. 9, Sioulin Township (秀林) Mayor Wang Mei-kuei (王玫瑰) of the KMT and her husband were arrested over alleged contraventions of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), accused of using community feedback funds to organize banquets and distribute cash.
Meanwhile, Chang Chia-hao (張家豪), the KMT’s candidate for mayor of Yilan County’s Jhuangwei Township (壯圍), has has been implicated in alleged vote-buying involving the use of his official position to organize banquets and distribute gifts to voters to secure their support. Chang was detained on Sept 10.
Within the tangled web of KMT local factions, local self-government has long since degenerated into a predatory production line that turns public funds into private gains.
In the eyes of local faction leaders, public power is not a responsibility, but a family money tree.
There is an even more serious challenge in the implications for national security. The local political networks that have long depended on enormous flows of money to operate might be more concerned with personal interests than loyalty to their country.
As Beijing’s “united front” infiltration of Taiwan becomes increasingly aggressive, there are systematic efforts to cultivate ties with Taiwan’s grassroots communities, village networks and local political families. Some factional politicians who covet public funds and crave campaign cash could potentially become amenable local entry points for Chinese capital.
November’s local elections are near. Votes should not be rubber stamps for corrupt politicians to recoup public funds, or free passes for hereditary factional fiefdoms. If Taiwanese cannot use their ballots to sweep away such practices, society will never escape from the shadow of factional patronage and political corruption.
Yang Chih-chiang is a teacher.
Translated by Gilda Knox Streader
Taiwan’s democracy and high-tech economy play a crucial role in global affairs and are central to the world’s embrace of a raft of next-generation technologies, including AI. It is underpinned by a security relationship with the United States that’s existed in several iterations since 1949 and the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) retreat from China. A central pillar of that security relationship is the American willingness to sell arms to Taiwan. Indeed, since 1979 it has been embedded in US law, with the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) charging the US with helping to improve the island’s ability to deter an attack from
Academia Historica director Chen Tsui-lien (陳翠蓮), speaking at the handover ceremony for her new role on Monday, said that when she accepted the position, she knew that her peaceful life as a history professor was a thing of the past, and that from now on she would have to “wear a helmet.” A specialist in Taiwan’s post-World War II history and the 228 Incident, she has been accused of being politically divisive. A phrase she used in her acceptance speech set headlines alight this week, putting her in the sights of editorials in blue-leaning media. She said opposition figures calling for
EDITORIAL CARTOON
Taiwanese-Americans, lawmakers and civic groups marched through Manhattan on Saturday last week in support of Taiwan’s participation in the UN. Marshall Islands Permanent Representative to the UN John Silk joined the demonstration, saying he hoped Taiwan would one day be able to participate in UN meetings as a member, and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Yi-chuan (王義川) took part while visiting New York City with a delegation. Taiwanese communities in Vancouver held a “UN for Taiwan” event. The campaign comes as the 81st UN General Assembly gets under way. In Taipei, President William Lai (賴清德) said China was deliberately misinterpreting UN
RSS