The Presidential Office yesterday remained mum about whether President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) plans to pardon former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) after a Chinese-language magazine reported that she would do so before her term ends on May 20.
“The Presidential Office’s current position is still to ensure that former president Chen receives proper healthcare, and other pertinent matters would be handled based on the relevant regulations,” office spokeswoman Olivia Lin (林聿禪) said.
Mirror Weekly magazine yesterday published a cover story in which it detailed the Tsai administration’s deliberations on pardoning Chen, who was convicted of corruption for four bribery and money-laundering scandals committed while in office and was sentenced to a combined 20 years in prison.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-lin, Taipei Times
Chen was released on medical parole in 2015 after having served six years.
Despite being instructed by Taichung Prison not to give political speeches, comment on political issues, endorse political candidates or attend political events, Chen was reported to have breached each of the four conditions by attending a dinner hosted by Taiwan Brain Trust, appearing at his son’s campaign rally when he ran for Kaohsiung city councilor, accepting a request for an interview from Japanese daily Sankei Shimbun and commenting on political issues on Facebook.
The prison’s continuous extension of Chen’s medical parole — 38 times — has damaged the dignity of the judicial system and divided the nation, the story said, adding that as such, Tsai has decided to pardon the former president and the office is following legal procedures to do so.
To reduce repercussions that might arise from the pardon, the government would ask the judicial system to confiscate the proceeds Chen and his family gained from their criminal activities — NT$1.1 billion (US$33.98 million), the story said.
The pardon would not extend to suspended criminal trials in which the former president and his former staff at the Presidential Office have yet to be convicted, it said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said that the caucus has no further information on the potential pardon, adding that it respects the authority of the president.
“For the DPP caucus, the most important thing before May 20 is to hope for a smooth transition between the old and new Cabinets, and good exchanges between the executive and legislative branches,” Wu said. “This would ensure that good policies would be proposed and implemented at the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan.”
The Ministry of Justice said that it has yet to receive orders from the Presidential Office or Executive Yuan to begin considering the possibility of pardoning Chen.
However, the ministry emphasized that a pardon is a privilege that the president is entitled to exercise toward convicted criminals, who would then be exempt from serving prison sentences.
The record of conviction would not be expunged despite the presidential pardon, it said.
Prosecutors can petition a judge to confiscate the entire criminal proceeds gained by Chen and his family under a new system that the ministry has implemented since 2016 in accordance with the Criminal Code, the ministry said, adding that the proceeds would not be returned even if Chen were to be pardoned.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said that Chen has been convicted in some cases, but he also has pending lawsuits.
“If the presidential pardon were to apply to all these cases, people would not know the truth,” Hung said.
“We have no idea why President Tsai would choose to pardon Chen before her second term ends, rather than during her tenure as president. However, people need to know the truth. Chen should only be pardoned when he admits he is guilty of all the crimes he committed and all the lawsuits against him are finalized,” he said.
KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said that Tsai should tell the public which crimes she plans to pardon.
“Many lawsuits against Chen are suspended because he has been on medical parole for an unspecified duration. Tsai should explain whether these unsettled lawsuits should resume after the presidential pardon,” Lo said.
Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said that Tsai should explain why she needs to pardon Chen, rather than leaking the information to news media to influence public opinion.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
The WHO ignored early COVID-19 warnings from Taiwan, US Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on Friday, as part of justification for Washington withdrawing from the global health body. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said that the US was pulling out of the UN agency, as it failed to fulfill its responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO “ignored early COVID warnings from Taiwan in 2019 by pretending Taiwan did not exist, O’Neill wrote on X on Friday, Taiwan time. “It ignored rigorous science and promoted lockdowns.” The US will “continue international coordination on infectious
RSS