Chen Shui-bian gets life
　

GRAFT TRIAL: The Taipei District Court ruled the former president and his wife ‘used his power to create wealth while putting aside integrity and loyalty to the country’
　

By Shelley Huang
STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, Sep 12, 2009, Page 1
　

The Taipei District Court yesterday sentenced former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his wife to life in prison after handing down a guilty verdict in the graft trial against the former first couple and 11 co-defendants.

The verdict makes Chen the first former president in the country’s history to be indicted and convicted.

Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) began reading from the court’s 1,000-page verdict at 4pm. Chen received a life sentence, a fine of NT$200 million (US$6.1 million) and had his civil rights annulled for life for violating the Punishment of Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法) and Criminal Code (刑法).

Chen chose not to attend yesterday’s proceedings. Lee Ta-chu (李大竹), deputy warden at the Taipei Detention Center, where Chen has been imprisoned since Dec. 30 last year, said that the former president went about his daily activities as usual.

Lee said the former president was calm after finding out about his sentence through TV news.

The court ruled that Chen, during his term as president, “for selfish reasons … used his power to create wealth while putting aside integrity and loyalty to the country.”

The ruling states that as president, Chen should have known that “if one person in power developed a greed for the people’s money, the entire country would devolve into chaos.”

The court found Chen and his wife guilty of embezzlement and taking bribes totaling NT$800 million, some of which was laundered overseas through Swiss bank accounts and paper companies.

Former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) was given a life sentence, a fine of NT$300 million and also had her civil rights annulled for life. The ruling states that although the court was sympathetic toward her disability, as a former legislator Wu “knows the country’s money comes from its hardworking people,” yet “used her position countless times to obtain large amounts of public funds to be used for personal expenses.”

However, because Wu has been in a wheelchair since an incident in 1985 and needs full-time care, she might be allowed to serve out her sentence in an alternative way, such as house arrest.

In the money laundering case, Chen Shui-bian’s son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), was sentenced to two years and six months, as well as a fine of NT$150 million, for helping his parents wire money to overseas bank accounts.

Chen Shui-bian’s daughter-in-law, Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚), was sentenced to one year and eight months and fined NT$150 million on money laundering charges.

Speaking briefly to reporters after hearing the verdict, Chen Shui-bian’s court-appointed attorney Tseng Te-rong (曾德榮) said he found the life sentence “rather heavy,” but declined to comment further, saying that he would first need to read through the entire ruling.

Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文龍), a former attorney for Chen Shui-bian, said the ruling was a “political ruling” because the court handed down a guilty verdict when there was no proof Chen Shui-bian was guilty.

Lin Chih-hung (林志忠), an attorney for the former first lady, said the sentence was too heavy and would advise her to appeal the ruling.

Yeh Ta-hui (葉大慧), an attorney for Chen Chih-chung and his wife, said he would discuss whether to appeal the ruling after he receives a copy of it. However, Yeh said that even if they decided to appeal, the young couple would not change their decision to plead guilty in hopes of leniency.

The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said prosecutors would decide whether to appeal after they receive a copy of the ruling.

Two former presidential aides, former deputy secretary-general Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成) and former Presidential Office director Lin Teh-hsun (林德訓), were found guilty of helping the former first family embezzle money from public funds and were sentenced to 20 and 16 years respectively and had their civil rights annulled for 10 and eight years respectively.

The court said the former first family’s bookkeeper Chen Chen-hui (陳鎮慧) escaped a prison sentence because she showed remorse for her crimes and provided key evidence to prosecutors and judges, including computer records she kept detailing the former first family’s official and personal expenses.

The former president and his wife were found guilty of receiving kickbacks from a development company to pave the way for the construction of the Hsinchu Science Park by purchasing a plot of land in Taoyuan County from the company at a price prosecutors argued was unreasonably high.

Former Hsinchu Science Park head James Lee (李界木) and Wu’s friend Tsai Ming-che (蔡銘哲) were found guilty of pocketing part of the money and transferring kickbacks to accounts held by family members of Chen Shui-bian and Wu.

Lee was sentenced to six years in prison and had his civil rights annulled for three years. Tsai Ming-che was sentenced to two years in prison and five years probation. His brother Tsai Ming-chieh (蔡銘杰) was also found guilty of taking kickbacks and received a two-year prison sentence and five years probation.

The ruling found the former first family guilty of collecting bribes from contractor Kuo Chuan-ching (郭銓慶) between 2002 and 2003 to help him win a tender to build the Nangang Exhibition Hall. Kuo was sentenced to six months in jail, of which three months have been suspended.

Prosecutors argued that Kuo won the contract by bribing members of a panel organized by the Ministry of the Interior to assess the bidding after then-interior minister Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) revealed the list of panel members to Kuo at Wu’s request.

Tsai Ming-chieh and Kuo early last month pleaded guilty to helping Wu obtain US$2.73 million in bribes in connection with a land deal in Longtan (龍潭), Taoyuan County.

Yu has also been indicted for allegedly leaking secrets, but the court has not yet passed a verdict in his case because he is not one of the co-defendants in the Chen Shui-bian case.

BRIBES

The District Court also found Chen Shui-bian and his wife guilty of some of the charges prosecutors added against them on May 5. These include taking NT$10 million in bribes from former Taipei Financial Center Corp (台北金融大樓公司) chairwoman Diana Chen (陳敏薰) and NT$300 million in political donations from former Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) vice chairman Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒).

Members of the former first lady’s family and some of her friends also received prison sentences for helping her launder money.

Wu’s brother Wu Ching-mao (吳景茂) and his wife, Chen Chun-ying (陳俊英), who pleaded guilty to helping the former first lady launder money through overseas accounts, were each sentenced to two years in prison, five years’ probation and a fine of NT$3 million.

Tsai Mei-li (蔡美利), a classmate of the former first lady, is critically ill and has not been sentenced. She allegedly also played a role in the money-laundering schemes.

In related news, the Taipei District Court yesterday said it respected Chen Shui-bian’s decision not to appear in court to hear the ruling. The court’s decision not to require his presence signals that the detention hearing would be held next week at the earliest, or at the High Court if the appeal is processed before the former president’s current term of detention expires on Sept. 25.

APPEAL?

As Chen Shui-bian and his lawyers do not expect a favorable decision from Tsai Shou-hsun, who has repeatedly ruled that the former president should remain in detention, it is expected that Chen Shui-bian’s lawyers would file an appeal as soon as possible.

The former president has denied the charges and says his detention and trial amount to political persecution by the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).

Protesters, DPP members reject ‘illegitimate’ verdict
　

By Loa Iok-sin and Mo Yan-chih
STAFF REPORTERS
Saturday, Sep 12, 2009, Page 1
　

Hundreds of supporters of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) gathered outside the Taipei District Court yesterday afternoon, insisting that Chen is innocent and dismissing his corruption trial as political persecution.

Shouting “A-bian [阿扁, Chen’s nickname] is innocent,” the supporters began to gather in front of the courthouse hours before the verdict was to be handed down at 4pm.

“Stop the political persecution,” one of the banners held up by protesters read, while others accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of manipulating the judiciary and urged him to step down.

Chen supporters held yellow ribbons and yellow balloons bearing the slogans “A-bian is innocent” and “release A-bian.”

Besides Chen’s supporters, some of his opponents also showed up from time to time outside the courthouse, calling on the judge to give Chen a hefty sentence.

Several verbal and minor physical clashes broke out between the two sides, but police quickly separated the belligerents each time.

The police completely sealed off the section of Boai Road in front of the courthouse about an hour before the verdict and sentence were expected.

A police source said about 300 to 400 officers were deployed to maintain order.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said he would accept neither a guilty nor a not-guilty verdict, because the trial was illegitimate.

“I actually wouldn’t be surprised if Chen gets lifetime imprisonment, because the trial is illegal and ­illegitimate,” he said before the verdict was announced. “During the trial, the defendant’s rights were disregarded, and it was clearly a case of political manipulation.”

He also urged the court to put an end to Chen’s detention of more than 250 days.

The demonstrators outside the court became very emotional upon learning the verdict, with many bursting into tears.

A woman started to repeatedly cry “A-bian is innocent” aloud and began hitting people around her with a small flag pole, until she passed out.

Others rushed toward the entrance of the courthouse but were stopped by the police. They then threw plastic bottles, ribbons, posters and banners over the police barricade. The situation calmed down soon, as many demonstrators decided to go to the detention center in Tucheng City (土城), Taipei County, where Chen is being held.

Chen’s office said the verdict was “unacceptable” and “illegal.”

“Although we expected such a heavy sentence, we cannot accept it, because the court violated procedural justice,” said Chiang Chih-ming (江志銘), secretary of Chen’s office, referring to the decision to replace the judge in the middle of the trial.

The office later held a press conference, where it accused the court of seeking to “exterminate the Chen family and the former president’s former aides” with the verdict.

Chen’s office spokesman Liu Dao (劉導) said Yu Wen (余文), a former secretary to Ma Ying-jeou during his stint as Taipei mayor, was sentenced to only one year in prison for inappropriate use of Ma Ying-jeou’s special mayoral allowance.

Chen’s office spokesman Liu Dao (劉導) also condemned the court for sentencing former Presidential Office director Lin Teh-hsun (林德訓) and former deputy secretary-general Ma Yung-cheng (馬永成), who were convicted of inappropriately reimbursing the former first family for personal expenses taken out of the president’s “state affairs” fund, to 16 years and 20 years respectively.

Liu said Yu Wen (余文), a former secretary to Ma Ying-jeou during his stint as Taipei mayor, was sentenced to only one year in prison for inappropriately use of Ma Ying-jeou’s special mayoral allowance.

“It is unbelievable that Ma [Yung-cheng] and Lin were given such different treatments because they had different bosses,” Liu said.

Liu said Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun’s (蔡守訓) verdict was biased because of his hostility toward Chen Shui-bian.

“The verdict also marked the beginning of a new KMT autarchy. People who were concerned about the development of democracy in Taiwan should take note,” he said.

DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said the verdict was not convincing because of a flawed trial process. Tsai Shou-hsun, who was also the judge in Ma Ying-jeou’s embezzlement trial, seems to have employed double standards to the two similar cases, she said.

While Chen was sentenced to life in prison, Ma Ying-jeou was found not guilty, the DPP leader said.

“We regret to see the defects and the ruling. We will support former president Chen Shui-bian in his fight for his legal rights as he enters the next stage of legal proceedings,” she said.

However, Tsai said, Chen should be held responsible for some of his actions, which she said were not in line with the DPP’s standards.

DPP Legislator Tsai Trong-rong (蔡同榮), who was in court when the verdict was handed down, said the sentence is too heavy.

DPP Legislator Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) said such a heavy sentence must be politically motivated.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟), said: “Chen Shui-bian deserves it. I believe the public will welcome the verdict.”

Lu said Chen should plead guilty and stop using his wife as an excuse.

When asked if he thought the court should consider allowing the former first lady to serve her term at home by wearing electronic foot shackles, Lu said this would be good from a humanitarian perspective.

Meanwhile, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said the office respected the ruling and would refrain from commenting on individual cases.

KMT headquarters also declined to comment on the ruling.

US, China extend dialogue to cover counterterrorism
　

INTERNAL AFFAIRS: While Hillary Clinton hailed what may be the first institutionalized terror talks with China, Beijing warned against support for ‘separatist forces’ in Taiwan

AFP, WASHINGTON
Saturday, Sep 12, 2009, Page 1

The US and China are to expand their dialogue to cover counterterrorism, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, although Beijing cautioned against any interference in internal affairs.

“I am pleased to announce that the United States and China will be conducting joint talks on counterterrorism this fall,” Clinton said on Thursday at a business forum attended by China’s National People’s Congress Chairman Wu Bangguo (吳邦國), the second-most powerful man in the Chinese Communist Party after President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).

“Now, we will not see to eye to eye on every issue,” Clinton said. “We have different histories, different experiences, different perspectives, but we must seek to talk honestly and openly, even when agreement is not possible,” she said. “And we are committed to doing so.”

The talks disclosed by Clinton may be the first institutionalized dialogue with China on counterterrorism, regional diplomats said. Clinton did not provide details on particular issues to be discussed.

Wu, whose US visit is the first by any head of China’s powerful National People’s Congress in 20 years, made clear Beijing would rebuff any interference in China’s internal affairs.

“We believe that one should not interfere in other countries’ internal affairs or impose its own will on others,” he said, seeking respect for “each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

He also said that Beijing was against any international support for “separatist forces” in Tibet or Taiwan.

“We are against the practice of using differences in perception as an excuse and freedom of religion and speech as a cover to support, or support in a disguised way, separatist forces for ‘Taiwan independence,’ ‘Tibet independence’ and other separatist agendas and meddle in China’s internal ­affairs,” Wu said.

Wu held talks with US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden on Thursday and met with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi a day earlier, saying his visit had achieved “satisfactory results.”

Clinton said that the two countries had also agreed to hold the next round of a human rights dialogue before the end of the year and also reconvene a bilateral legal experts dialogue.

PRC ‘eroding’ freedoms in Taiwan, HK
　

FREE?: An official from a journalism commission said pressure from Beijing was hindering the free exchange of information that Washington relies on
　

By William Lowther
STAFF REPORTER , WASHINGTON
Saturday, Sep 12, 2009, Page 3

“The United States and the international community need China to step up to its role as a modern industrialized nation. The free flow of information domestically and internationally from China does not meet global norms.”— Madeline Earp, Committee to Protect Journalists

A US congressional commission has been told that China’s growing financial presence in Taiwan may be damaging the country’s press freedom.

The warning came from Madeline Earp, an official with the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) during testimony she gave on Thursday to a US-China Economic and Security Review Commission hearing on China’s media and information controls.

“Journalists from Hong Kong and Taiwan have told CPJ they fear China’s increasing economic influence in their respective territories may be eroding the freedoms that exist there now,” she told the commission.

Earp said her organization was “very worried about signs of creeping repression” that seemed to be spreading from China.

Phelim Kine, Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, said: “Recently, it appears that Hong Kong journalists in particular have been the target of a disproportionate amount of harassment.”

Earp added that a female journalist from Taiwan had told CPJ that she was aware of “creeping self-censorship.”

Earp said the self-censorship was not actually imposed directly by China, “but there is an awareness that certain stories can affect China and that might interfere with the growing economic relationship” between China and Taiwan.

Kine said: “Journalists understand that these are businesses they work for and these businesses often have links to China and there are lines they should not cross.”

He said that self-censorship in countries under Chinese influence was well known: “It is de facto, and it is a huge problem.”

In an interview after the hearing, Earp said that the CPJ was actively trying to gather examples of self-censorship in Taiwan and was “watching the situation.”

Earp said she believed that under “the increasing rapport” between Taiwan and China, certain stories would be handled more and more “delicately.”

Earlier, she told the commission: “The United States and the international community need China to step up to its role as a modern industrialized nation. The free flow of information domestically and internationally from China does not meet global norms.

“Reporting on disease outbreaks, economic conditions, market and trading information, and, of course, issues of corruption and human violations — virtually any subject that might highlight shortcomings in the political system and cause embarrassment to the government — remains a legitimate target of suppression in the eyes of the government’s vast censorship system.

“Even more important than the treatment of American and other foreign journalists in China is the threat the domestic censorship regime poses to the free exchange of information, which the US relies on,” she said.

Suspects arrested in ‘needle’ attacks in Chinese cities

AP, BEIJING
Saturday, Sep 12, 2009, Page 5

Mystery needle attacks appeared to spread outside China’s far western region as authorities arrested nine new suspects in three cities, officials said yesterday.

The suspects were recently detained in Hotan, Altay and Kashgar — cities in China’s south, north and west respectively — in connection with alleged attacks involving hypodermic needles, a press officer at the Xinjiang government press center in the provincial capital Urumqi said yesterday. He declined to give his name, as is customary.

Since last week, more than 500 people in Urumqi have reported attacks, though only about 100 showed evidence of being pricked. The bizarre stabbings led to mass demonstrations by tens thousands of Han Chinese earlier this month against what they said was a government that can’t guarantee their safety.

The needle assaults have aggravated tensions in the restive western region of Xinjiang where ethnic riots in July left nearly 200 dead.

A staffer surnamed Li at the propaganda department of the Communist Party in Kashgar confirmed that people had reported cases but said none showed any evidence of a syringe attack.

“As of now, according to the diagnoses, we haven’t confirmed any syringe attacks yet. Most of them only felt some sudden pain when they were walking in the crowd, and some of them felt they’d been tapped on the body. But the doctors and medical examiners did not find any signs of a hypodermic attack on their bodies,” he said.

The official China Daily reported out of 19 reported attacks in the three cities, only six were confirmed.

Calls to the city governments in Kashgar, Altay and Hotan were not answered yesterday.

Officials and state media have repeatedly blamed the attacks on separatists bent on destroying ethnic unity.

Ethnic rioting in early July by the minority Muslim Uighurs, followed by revenge attacks by Han Chinese, was the worst unrest in China in decades.

Reports of the needle attacks emerged several weeks ago though the size and scale remain unclear. None of the reported victims have suffered from illness, poisoning or other effects.

A guilty verdict to scorn

Saturday, Sep 12, 2009, Page 8

Prior to the onslaught of Typhoon Morakot, one name in the Cabinet stood above all others as a ripe candidate for removal in any reshuffle: Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰).

Wang, who has presided over and contributed to a punishing loss of confidence in the impartiality of the nation’s judicial system, survived this week’s reshuffle after lying low for some months. Her case was helped by not having a major role to play in the government’s diabolical response to the typhoon.

Any doubts about the justice minister keeping her position, however, would have been removed given the timing of the verdict in the trial of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), members of their family and several other accused.

No president would dare sacrifice a justice minister on the eve of such an important ruling, not even one as dismal as Wang.

Some might argue that Wang has done her job exactly as the ruling party hoped: defending the government to the hilt despite unconscionable lapses in the ministry’s professionalism and pitiful progress on judicial reform, while failing to defend judges and defense counsel demonized in the press and by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators, including some on the legislative committee that deals with judicial affairs.

For this minister, the presumption of innocence is a slogan to be parroted at meetings with foreign visitors, not a principle to be defended in the local media or among her fellow travelers in the KMT. She remains the perfect foil as the Chen saga continues.

It came as no surprise that Chen was found guilty given that he was found guilty in the court of public opinion many months ago, though the severity of his and his wife’s sentences may have surprised even some of Chen’s enemies. The safety of the judgment is yet to be established, and the lengthy verdict will take some time to analyze, but this much is clear: The trial was filled with irregularities and scenes of breathless farce to the extent that the wily Chen has gained considerable ammunition for what will likely be an interminable appeals process.

The political consequences following a life verdict cannot be underestimated. Chen’s enemies in the KMT will celebrate tonight, comfortable in the knowledge that the man most responsible in the last decade for furthering the agenda of an independent, democratic Taiwan has been taken out over the alleged theft of baubles — by KMT standards.

The truth is that Chen — if he indeed is corrupt, if he indeed committed forgery or was an accessory to such conduct, if he indeed “embezzled” campaign funds — cannot begin to compare with the legions of KMT officials, central government officials, regional and local officials, company directors, entrepreneurs and many other categories of the rich and powerful who have committed acts of fraud and violence against ordinary Taiwanese for decades and have never been brought to account — nor ever will.

The Chen verdict brings this risible saga to the next stage. Chen’s alienation of his supporters may soon bottom out as the government’s ineptitude and compulsive China policy allow the Democratic Progressive Party to place renewed pressure on the government to pursue reforms that get the politicians and politics out of the court room and increase transparency across the system.

If that were to happen, Chen’s proclivity for Christian imagery may prove apt. For all of the people he has let down, guilty or otherwise, his conviction could be the crucible that brings this mediocre, cynical government to book.

The impact of ECFA on sustainable development
　

By Brian Chi-ang Lin 林其昂
Saturday, Sep 12, 2009, Page 8

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has frequently utilized government ministries and agencies to publicize the supposed benefits and urgency of signing an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.

But many questions remain over the economic and trade activities that the negotiations will cover, and over the processes that would introduce an ECFA.

A policy explanation released by the Mainland Affairs Council said that the ECFA would be transparent and thus gain public support. The truth, however, is that most Taiwanese do not understand what the ECFA will contain or is supposed to do, which means any talk of endorsing the government’s decision is premature.

The level of public participation in public affairs is an important indicator of sustainable development. If the government is serious about sustainable development, seeking public opinion across different sectors of society should be at the top of its list in promoting an ECFA.

In addition, some private industries like petroleum and plastic have consistently worked with or urged the government to promote an ECFA. This is not a good example of corporate social responsibility and is in conflict with the basic spirit and goals of sustainable development.

Signing an ECFA would lower tariffs and help exports for Taiwanese industries relating to plastics, chemicals, iron, steel and machinery. These vested interests would obviously benefit from an ECFA, but they are industries that emit high amounts of carbon, consume large amounts of energy and produce large amounts of pollution.

If the government is serious about implementing its energy conservation and carbon emission reduction policy, it should develop policies that accelerate the transformation and elimination of the abovementioned industries as soon as possible, while establishing an industrial model that includes low carbon emissions, low energy consumption and the minimizing of pollution.

Although there is some academic support for signing an ECFA, almost all who support it base their theories on traditional ways of thinking about a free economy and trade, saying that further cross-strait trade is the only way to increase Taiwan’s economic output.

The free economy model has its good points and we can make use of them, but the promotion of a sustainable development model needs a wider range of ideas and much more discussion. It is inappropriate to allow traditional thinking on a free economy to head this effort.

For example, theories on a green economy and the lifestyle it entails are based on the concept of sustainable development. Such theories emphasize local production and consumption and do not encourage long-distance international trade. This is an example of how thought on sustainable economics is developing in step with what we need most at this time.

I would remind the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) that ignoring or downplaying the unique political relations that exist between Taiwan and China is not the approach of a responsible government. Further, blindly attempting to increase trade is not a way to encourage sustainable development.

The government should focus on ways to improve quality of life. Only on such a foundation can it design models for industrial transformation and cross-strait trade that are beneficial to Taiwan’s sustainable development.

Brian Chi-ang Lin is a professor in and chair of the Department of Public Finance at National Chengchi University.