Outgoing Control Yuan member Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟) in a detailed post on his Pointed Pigtail (尖尾週記) blog on Saturday explained his reasons for resigning.
Chen announced his resignation on Thursday, after Judicial Yuan President Hsu Tzong-li (許宗力) on Tuesday accused him of interfering in the judicial system.
While President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) had asked him to stay on until his term ends on July 31, Chen said that he would not change his mind.
Photo: Chiang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Chen had sparked controversy with a plan to investigate allegations of misconduct, personal bias and abuse of power by judicial officials, including judges and prosecutors.
He had cited the allegedly unfair prosecution and unequal treatment of the nation’s two previous presidents in corruption cases, as well as their alleged misuse of “slush funds” when in office.
On his blog, Chen said that when he assumed the position in January, 2018, he had given his assurance and made a public declaration that his work would focus on investigating “dinosaur judges” — a term used to describe them as being out of touch with society.
“My contribution was to be to clean up the accumulated muck in the justice system. It was in accord with calls by President Tsai [Ing-wen (蔡英文)] to prioritize judicial reform at the start of her first presidential term,” Chen wrote. “My confidence in judicial reform came from our nation’s Constitution, which grants the Control Yuan the power to balance the power of the judiciary.”
Chen said that his confidence waned over time due to a lack of progress with regard to judicial reform.
He said he went to the Judicial Yuan several times to check up on an issue, but Judicial Yuan President Hsu Tzong-li (許宗力) brushed him off by saying that the push for judicial reform would be perceived as “taking revenge” and would “have a chilling effect” on judges.
“It seems Hsu treated the more than 2,000 court judges like baby silkworms, attentively treating them with care, but a Control Yuan member is the natural enemy of baby silkworms,” Chen wrote.
Hsu overly protected the judges, shielding them from investigations by the Control Yuan, Chen said.
“The only person who has the power to put an end to this farce has clearly chosen not to get involved,” Chen said, without giving a name.
“If this Control Yuan member continues to struggle on, I would get nowhere and we would be back to square one, so why should I go on fighting this battle?” Chen asked.
Chen said that his resignation was not because he was caving in to pressure from the media or public, nor because he was frightened by Hsu accusing him of interfering in the judicial system, nor because he was surrendering to the more than 80 percent of judges who petitioned against his proposed plan to question the judge who had acquitted former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in a retrial.
He resigned because he no longer knew why he was still fighting, and he could no longer push for judicial reform, Chen said.
Separately yesterday, the Presidential Office said that the Control Yuan and Judicial Yuan would able to resolve any dispute based on the nation’s constitutional framework.
“We believe the two bodies can comply with mechanisms under the constitutional framework, to verify the delineation of power between them,” Presidential Office spokesman Ting Yun-kung (丁允恭) said. “There is no need for politicized consideration [of this dispute].”
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to