Black-gold’s pro-china camps on Sep 24, 2004

TSU blasts Ho Chih-hui's committee choice

By Debby Wu
STAFF REPORTER
 

The Taiwan Solidarity Union yesterday condemned Chinese Nation-alist Party (KMT) Legislator Ho Chih-hui, who has been charged with corruption with a recommended 18-year sentence, for registering to become a member of the Judiciary Committee in this legislative session.

Lawmakers two days ago finished signing up for committees for the current legislative session and Ho was one of a few controversial figures who chose to join the Judiciary Committee.

"Ho has been involved in scandals and he went to the Mainland to avoid being investigated," said Chen Chien-ming, the TSU caucus whip.

"Now he has returned and has even signed up to join the Judiciary Committee. It is apparent that he is trying to tamper with justice to gain advantages in his case," Chen said.

"If Ho thinks that he has not broken the law, he should resign his seat and refrain from running in the election. He should not hide behind the immunity shield bestowed on the Legislative Yuan by the Constitution," Chen said.

Ho is alleged to have abused his position to gain loans in several instances.

Ho allegedly took advantage of his position as the Miaoli Country commissioner in the mid-1990s to procure a loan for which he was not qualified from Hsinchu Commercial Bank in 1995.

Ho also allegedly exerted pressure on subordinates to approve a construction proposal submitted by Chiuchun Development Co in 1997.

In 1999, Ho allegedly used his political power to again procure illegal financing, this time in the form of a NT$200 million loan from Kuo Hua Life Insurance Co.

Ho escaped to China last year to avoid going to court.

He returned earlier this month to participate in the vote for the reconsideration request on the statute governing the investigative committee probing the March 19 assassination attempt.

Ho's case is not unique. Other controversial figures who have decided to join the Judiciary Committee this session include independent Legislator Su Yin-kuei, who has been involved in several slander cases, KMT Legislator Lin Chin-chun, who is suspected of corruption, and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Sheng-hung, whose wife Hsueh Ling has been suspected of insider trading.

Envoy to EU commends NSB official

DIPLOMATIC CONCERN: Chen Chien-jen told reporters at a Ministry of Foreign Affairs party not make up stories about a NSB official linked to Donald Keyser

By Melody Chen
STAFF REPORTER

Representative to the EU Chen Chien-jen yesterday expressed sympathy for Isabella Cheng, one of the National Security Bureau officials involved in the case concerning former US State Department official Donald Keyser.

Chen described Cheng as a rare civil servant who has outstanding qualities and respects her job.

After the FBI's arrest of Keyser, the former deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs, the media in this country has speculated about a relationship between Cheng and Keyser and what happened during their meetings.

Chen, who was head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington when Keyser made a side visit to Taiwan during an official trip to Japan last September, declined to say whether he had been informed of Keyser's visit.

At a tea party for reporters sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chen stressed the uproar over the Keyser case would not affect Taiwan-US relations and urged reporters not to make up stories about Cheng.

Mentioning Cheng and her husband Chris Cockel, a correspondent for the China Post, Chen said he could imagine the great pressure the event has caused her family.

"Don't write stories unless you have the facts, or you may hurt people," Chen said.

The 65-year-old diplomat faces grave challenges as the representative to the EU.

During a Taiwan-EU conference in Belgium earlier this month, he expressed Taipei's growing concern that the EU might lift its arms embargo against China.

"Removing the arms embargo will also affect Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand ? If lifting the arms embargo would disrupt regional peace and stability here, it would not do Europe much good, either," he said.

French President Jacques Chirac's visit to Beijing next month and the EU-China summit meeting in early December are two key events that might influence the EU's decision, he said.

Chen said there has been little progress in improving China's human rights record since the EU imposed the ban after the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre.

He said one of his prime tasks in Brussels is to establish contacts in the EU and build communication channels.

The diplomat said he believed Taiwan's annual bid to join the World Health Organization (WHO) has made progress each year. This year, Taiwan focused on lobbying the EU for its support.

"We cannot expect too much progress to be made in a single year, but there will be steps forward. There is space for more effort," he said.

Asked whether he regarded President Chen Shui-bian's ambition to enter the WHO within two years as achievable, he said Tai-wan should take one step at a time.

Beijing warns Washington over arms deal with Taipei

AP , BEIJING
 

China said yesterday that it "strongly opposed" a weapons deal worth billions between Taiwan and the US, calling it a breach of a long-standing agreement between Beijing and Washington.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said that the US$18 billion package that includes anti-missile systems, planes and diesel-electric submarines sends "wrong signals to Taiwan."

"The Chinese position is very clear-cut," Kong said at a regular briefing. "China is strongly opposed to any sale of arms to Taiwan, because this is not in alignment with international laws and it contradicts the joint communiques between China and the United States."

"This is not in line with the commitments made by many administrations of the United States to not support Taiwan independence," he said. "We hope the United States will honor its commitments."

The administration of US President George W. Bush, however, has assured China many times that the US "one China" policy -- which doesn't endorse Taiwan independence -- remains unchanged.

Taipei has said new weapons are needed because China has significantly increased its defense budget in recent years. Officials in Taipei have warned that Beijing's aggressive arms buildup will tilt the military balance in favor of China as soon as next year. The Legislative Yuan is expected to vote next month on the arms purchase, which critics say is overpriced and would start an arms race.

Ethnic discord simmers in china’s wild west

Rise of Hu heralds massive change

By Wang Dan 

Now that former Chinese president Jiang Zemin has retired as chairman of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) Central Military Commission, President Hu Jintao's hold on power is now official and comprehensive. The advent of the Hu era brings with it enormous risks and challenges, for most of China's advantages have already been exploited in the course of the Deng Xiaoping and Jiang eras; now, old problems are piling up.

There are also many new problems. The result is a massive "deficit" of advantages. How Hu will deal with these accumulated difficulties and how he will find a balance between the spontaneous changes taking place in society and the need to maintain the primacy of the CCP will be the most important questions of his presidency.

The biggest difference between this era and those of Deng and Jiang is that the strategy of using market expansion to obscure social problems and maintain stability through the creation of wealth is now past its use-by date. Political and social reform can no longer be avoided. For Hu, this situation is both a challenge and an opportunity. Now that supreme power over the party, the government and the military is concentrated in his hands, the way he will be judged by history will depend entirely on how he decides to act.

There is no reason to be too optimistic about what Hu will do. From his track record we can see that he is a typical product of the CCP's training, and his thinking is still firmly confined within those limits. As the head of the CCP, his interest lies in serving the interests of the party rather than those of the people. He will rise or fall depending on the fortunes of the party, and this is what he will focus on. He is unlikely to hurt the party to benefit the people. In his current situation he is unlikely to act as the "supreme emperor" in the manner of Jiang, but he is still constrained by the demands of the party, and his position is not yet fully consolidated. He is still some distance away from being able to act as he pleases, so it is still difficult for us to know what he really thinks. All we are able to do is watch and wait.

But at the same time, there is no reason to be too pessimistic either. Politicians are constrained and guided by circumstances, so even if we cannot see in Hu any clear signs of democratic tendencies, China's regressive political system has already shown itself to be a major impediment to progress, and dealing with it will necessarily be Hu's first priority. Looking at his track record, he has at least left room for reform, as reflected by his statements at the Fourth Plenum of the 16th CCP Central Committee, when he spoke of making development the party's first priority and of pursuing "scientific rule, democratic rule and rule by law."

When the development of

a society makes claims on its rulers, they are eventually forced to bow to these demands, willing or not. We don't have to be too pessimistic because there is no reason to be so about the direction in which society is developing. If the pressure exerted on Hu by the public is great enough, then it is possible that he may end up standing on the right side of the judgement of history.

From a broader perspective, whether Jiang is out or Hu is in is not the most important question. The two decisive factors in China's future are, firstly, the development of its politics, economy and society; and secondly, the interaction of various sociopolitical forces. It is still uncertain what effects these will have. What is certain is that the Hu era will be one of massive change for China.

Wang Dan was a student leader during the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations.

Meddling, errors marred HK poll

By Emily Lau 

The Legislative Council (LegCo) elections held on Sept. 12 left a sour taste in many people's mouths. The election was undemocratic because the voters could only elect half of LegCo's 60 members by universal suffrage.

Arrangements at the polling stations were chaotic: some were forced to close temporarily, turning voters away. The Democratic Party was criticized for its over-zealousness in appealing for votes for former leader Martin Lee in the Hong Kong Island constituency, resulting in the surprise defeat of another pro-democracy candidate, Cyd Ho Sau-lan.

In spite of the huge mobilization by Chinese authorities and their allies in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), pro-democracy candidates won 60 percent of the vote, securing 25 seats. In a genuine democracy, a group with 60 percent of the vote would form the ruling party.

The election attracted widespread media attention because of the huge concern expressed by the Chinese government. Fearing that the pro-democracy forces could win a majority, the Chinese authorities moved in to marshal the election strategy of the pro-Beijing and pro-business camp.

Chinese and SAR officials assisted in persuading pro-Beijing and pro-business candidates not to stand against each other. This happened in the New Territories East, New Territories West and Kowloon East constituencies.

In the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce's functional constituency, chamber vice-chairwoman Lily Chiang was said to have been asked by the financial secretary, Henry Tang Ying-yen, a former member of the Liberal Party, not to run, leaving the way open for Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung of the Liberal Party to be elected unopposed.

Intervention by the Chinese government in Hong Kong elections is not new, but Beijing's paranoia over a pro-democracy victory led to unprecedented mobilization. Thousands of agents were reported to have been sent to the SAR to monitor the activities of pro-democracy politicians and to assist the pro-Beijing camp.

Within the pro-Beijing alliance, hatchets were buried and votes for candidates in the geographical constituency of Kowloon East were allocated with scientific precision.

In the New Territories East constituency, when opinion polls showed Liberal Party chairman James Tien had more votes than he needed, officials from the Central Government Liaison Office were said to have asked him to divert some of his support to the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), which won two seats.

The amazing organization, coordination and collaboration of the pro-Beijing camp was an eye-opener. To the pro-democracy camp, their opponents were the Chinese Communist Party.

With unlimited influence and resources, the intervention of the Chinese government in the LegCo elections produced a remarkable result. This involvement was a violation of the "one country, two systems" principle, but most people chose to turn a blind eye to the transgressions of Beijing.

The pro-democracy camp was criticized for lacking cohesion and sharing nothing but blind opposition to anything proposed by the administration of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa.

But many commentators ignored the fact that most pro-democracy LegCo members supported many bills and public expenditure proposals proposed by the administration. Their major disagreement with Tung was over issues relating to democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

In spite of the controversies, it was encouraging to see a record voter turnout rate of 55.63 percent, which showed that the people wanted to play an active part in the territory's affairs.

But while the central and SAR governments may be happy with the result, they must be angry and embarrassed by the scandals on election day.

Many staff at the polling stations were inexperienced and did not know how to handle the crisis. A number of polling stations ran out of ballot boxes, and in at least one station, cardboard boxes were used.

The number of complaints seriously undermined the election's credibility.

The chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, Justice Woo Kwok-hing, apologized for the string of errors, but failed to explain the many flaws and vote-counting discrepancies.

To protect the integrity of elections, Tung should appoint a commission of inquiry to investigate how and why so many things went wrong.

The inquiry must be open and transparent, and should make observations and recommendations on whether the election was conducted fairly, who should be held responsible for blunders and how procedures can be improved.

Woo will submit a report to Tung within three months, but it is not good enough for the judge to investigate himself.

The Hong Kong community demands an independent inquiry into the election fiasco, which has cast a giant shadow over the entire election and has reduced the SAR to an international laughingstock.

Looking to the future, the fight for direct elections in 2007 and 2008 will continue.

We will try to convince Beijing that Hong Kong's people want the right to elect their

government.

We hope that all newly elected LegCo members understand the wishes and aspirations of the people and will have the courage and decency to reflect them honestly to the leaders in Beijing.

Emily Lau is a Hong Kong Legislative Council member and convener of the Frontier party.

KMT assets are on the line

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is terminating its contract with Credit Suisse First Boston over the handling of its assets. The big question now is how the KMT's assets in Central Investment Holding Co, which amount to NT$25 billion, will be handled.

KMT spokesman Alex Tsai said the party does not rule out any options in how it deals with its assets, but "it might be a good idea to adopt the Hua Hsia [Investment Holdings Co] model in doing so."

Pressure from a draft law preventing parties from holding assets in or running businesses, combined with an undertaking by KMT Chairman Lien Chan, pushed the KMT in August last year to place the assets of Central Investment Holding Co in trust with Credit Suisse First Boston. By that time, the KMT had merged its seven investment companies into Central Investment Holding Co and Hua Hsia Investment. At the time of the mergers, assets totaled NT$71.9 billion (US$2.1 billion), but following a series of financial losses, including NT$9 billion in the Zanadu affair, assets plummeted to NT$33 billion. Of that, NT$24.9 billion was placed in the trust.

The KMT claims the reason it is terminating the trust is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government demanded the KMT place its assets in trust and launched fierce attacks on the party, especially ahead of the elections. Preferring short-term pain to a protracted battle, the KMT decided to terminate the trust and dispose of the assets once and for all.

This is how the KMT puts it. In fact, the KMT has lost two presidential elections, and with little hope of getting its hands on government resources in the near future, it has had to find a way of paying the wages of party workers and meeting the enormous expenditure requirements of local branches. After party-run businesses lost the special privileges that came with the KMT's political wing being in power, losses far exceeded profits.

If the KMT doesn't deal with its assets soon, it will face a heavy financial burden. Severance pay and pensions for party staff will make up a significant part of that burden, and could become a major political headache.

Legislative elections are also around the corner. The KMT's traditional style of campaigning is extremely expensive, and if the party cannot provide financial support and subsidies for its candidates, and if as a result they are not elected and the KMT loses its majority in the legislature, the party's future prospects will sustain a critical wound. The KMT has therefore moved to convert its assets to cash as soon as possible.

Ever alert, the DPP has latched on to the issue of KMT party assets. It has been monitoring the possible illegal sale of such assets as the China Television Company (CTV) and the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC). The combination of DPP political and administrative obstruction will bother the KMT for some time to come -- whatever it does, the KMT cannot easily evade this green-camp attack.

In the past, the KMT extorted the wealth of the people and used its political power to entrench the centrality of party-owned businesses. This was all rather untoward. But even if the KMT is able to convert its ill-gotten assets into hard cash, the public will speak at the ballot box and demand the return of their assets.