Mon, May 10, 2010 page3

• INTERVIEW: Chen’s son ready to take on family’s political torch

  • By Amber Wang / AFP
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  The son of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) says he is ready to embark on a political career to defend his father and carry on his push for Taiwan’s independence.

  In his first ever interview with foreign media, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) said he would never have considered entering politics were it not for his family’s legal woes, which could end with both his parents serving life sentences.

  “My father has been treated unfairly and prevented from speaking out while in detention for some 530 days. He and his supporters hope I can become his voice and seek justice for him,” 31-year-old Chen Chih-chung said. “I had never planned to go down the road of politics, but this is a mission I have to undertake for my father. I am ready to run to defend my father and to speak up for him.”

  Slim and bespectacled, Chen Chih-chung is following in his father’s footsteps by pursuing politics after practicing law. Both graduated from National Taiwan University’s law school and the son also studied law at the University of California, Berkeley and New York University.

  The former president and his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), were convicted last year on multiple corruption charges, while Chen Chih-chung was given a 30-month jail term for money laundering in the same case.

  Chen Chih-chung insisted he was only doing his mother’s bidding when transferring funds abroad, while she claimed that the money came from political donations rather than embezzled state funds.

  The Chens are currently appealing to the High Court, which is to deliver its verdict on June 11.

  The former president has blasted his conviction as a political vendetta by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government for his vigorous push for Taiwan’s independence.

  Tensions rose during Chen’s 2000-2008 rule as Beijing was often angered by his policies seeking a separate future for Taiwan, including scrapping the highly symbolic national unification council.

  “My father promoted Taiwan’s independent sovereignty in his eight years as president, but the ruling [KMT] party dismissed his accomplishment in order to fight pro-­independence forces,” he said.

  Some legal scholars have criticized the handling of the ex-­president’s case, particularly his lengthy detention and a decision to replace the presiding judge mid-trial.

  “There are a lot of concerns that political factors are interfering with the case and that he is being persecuted. How can the public believe in the outcome if the process raises so many doubts?” Chen Chih-chung said. “Since he’s been locked up for so long, he has been deprived of a fair chance to defend his innocence.”

  Chen Chih-chung said he is not worried that his father’s ­controversial legacy would affect his chances of running as a councillor in Kaohsiung City, where he now lives.

  “There are bound to be both positive and negative reviews of a leader and only history can make a fair judgement,” he said. “I hope to push for my father’s political ideals and his insistence that each side of the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan and China, is a country.”

  However, he admitted that his mother and wife still have reservations about his campaign plans and he is trying to persuade them before formally announcing his candidacy.

  “They want me to spend more time with the family and my three-year-old daughter. My mother never wanted my father to go into politics,” he said.
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